Tommy Oliver, Power Ranger of Earth: Season I
by PinkRangerV
Summary: Watch the show the Galactic Ranger Corps has fallen in love with! Angst! Drama! Ordinary people, thrust into extraordinary situations! This, ladies and gentlemen, is the novelization of the hit holodrama Tommy Oliver, Power Ranger of Earth!
1. Prologue

A\N: THE FORMATTING WORKS! ...Ahem. Sorry. Yeah, anyway, this is the show that _Unity_ and _Sacrifice_'s Galactic Ranger Corps fell in love with. Unlike the other two fics, this one's going to be an ongoing work, but it's still the same deal-my headcanon for the TV show, though probably not my headcanon for what _actually_ happened. Enjoy.

* * *

_Location: Reefside, Earth subdistrict California_  
_Date: August 30, 2003_

Every world needs heroes.

Earth is a small, unclaimed backwater on a far arm of the galaxy, but the truism rings no less for that. Indeed, the people of this planet often match this saying word-for-word. In many ways, they often feel that they need heroes more than the rest of the galaxy, which already has them in the Galactic Ranger Corps.

If you just winced, you probably know already just how much the Power loves hearing those words.

Ironically, though, humans might _wish_ for heroes, but if a man in tights with X-Ray vision appeared in front of them, they'd laugh, pose for a picture, and go back to work firmly believing that heroes don't exist. They offer that label to more 'adult' and 'realistic' figures instead.

With the skies blacker than night over not just California, but _America_, those same 'heroes' look up, shudder, make signs against evil, and pray. They are heroes, of course, even without extraordinary abilities, and will fight and die...but they can't do any more.

They'd thought otherwise at first. Three heroes, colorful and wearing Spandex and with astonishing abilities, had appeared and called out the people who had caused this nightmare, names now etched into everyone's consciousness: Zeltrax, Mesegog, Elsa.

Names etched in because those three had lost. Badly. Zeltrax had taken the youngest, a girl in yellow, to Mesegog, but left the other two as dead, stealing precious gemstones from their wrists.

On that first day, children had waved plastic figurines and shouted that you were gonna wish you'd stayed in bed today, they're gonna kick your _butts_!. Now, parents hid their children indoors and tried not to smash the plastic toys.

But the children still whisper.

Heroes are their playground, the bed of their dreams. You only need one hero, they tell each other. There are two laying in hospital beds. And the third _is in Mesegog's lair_. It was all a plan to _save the world_, you'll see.

The whispers go ignored as the planet sits, glued to televisions and broadcasts of devastation.

And then something changes.

A black jet of energy, a yellow one beside it, drop two figures onto the ground. A third follows through a wormhole. The girl in yellow, the same girl who had been taken prisoner, staggers away to find her brothers-in-arms.

The man stands.

He draws a sword, one that looks round as a staff, and holds it at the ready. He snarls at Mesegog, unimpressed and unafraid. He wears the uniform of a Black Power Ranger.

And he speaks exactly two words:

_"Tommy's back."_


	2. Day of the Dino Pt I

So, I've written not a word of fanfic this summer. There was a good reason for that! I promise! I was writing a book! But since I was gone, I thought I'd do a long project to make up for it. This is it: A novelization of the TV show that everyone on Home One (in my headcanon; read _Sacrifice_ and _Unity_ for further details) watches. The show started with the prologue, and then went to _Day of the Dino_, starting as Tommy walks in the door. I start when canon stops-right after Principal Randall leaves Tommy with the trio for detention. Enjoy the show!_  
_

* * *

_Location: Reefside High, Reefside_  
_Date: August 27, 2003_

Conner was the first to break the silence. "All right, all right, fine. We get it. We screwed up."

"Screwed up?" Tommy echoed, raising an eyebrow. "You could say that, yeah."

"Look, it's not like we _knew_ or anything!" Conner burst out, flopping back against the seat in irritation. "I mean, hello, it's been _three years_! What were we _supposed_ to expect? Hi, welcome to Reefside High, oh, yeah, your principal's the super-secret ninja assassin chick sent to completely murder you by a freak-of-nature mutant!"

"No, that one surprised all of us." Tommy agreed. "What I_ do_ expect, however, is for the three of you to be mature enough to live with your foster parents without drawing attention to yourselves. And that means you _attend_ class, you do _not_ turn on sprinklers at random times, and..." Tommy frowned at the girl sitting in the passenger's seat next to him.

"Whoa, whoa, don't look at me!" Kira grouched, holding up her hands. "I was playing my guitar. At _lunchtime_."

Tommy raised an eyebrow.

"Apparently, you need a permit."

"...Okay, you get a pass." Tommy shook his head. Good lord. It was a testament to how long he'd been a substitute teacher that he didn't even doubt the local school board _was_ that stupid. "But Conner, Ethan, I did _not_ send you to school to goof off, and while you're here you _will_ study and do your best, am I clear?"

"Yes, Dr. O," Both boys chorused.

Tommy sighed, then caught sight of Kira. She was slumped down in her seat, staring out of the window and twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"Hey. What's wrong?" Tommy asked, tapping her hand.

Kira shrugged. "Nothing." She sat up. "We heading home now?"

Ah.

Three years ago, while working with Anton Mercer, Tommy had found three teens locked in an 'unused' storage room. He'd stolen them and the Dino Gems that Mesegog, a monster haunting Anton's laboratory, had been experimenting on, and destroyed the laboratory (really, a lab on a private island working with the Power and dinosaur DNA, in Tommy's view that had jinxed it from the start).

But Mesegog had survived.

For three years, all of them had run, hiding anywhere and everywhere. But lately, Tommy had been worrying. Could he really justify dragging his kids around like this? Was this going to be their lives forever, always on the run?

They deserved better.

So he'd done everything imaginable. Laying down trail after trail, with threats and bribes and more money than he'd known he _could_ come up with, let alone had. Using everything he had, good or evil, inside of him. Compromising with the darkest parts of his soul.

And he'd found three sets of parents willing to take in children without questions, and one job teaching, where he could watch them grow.

He'd vomited for an entire week as the Power protested their separation. The kids hadn't done much better. But he'd held firm. This was what they needed-friends their own age, school that was utter crap, standardized tests that could get them into college, parents who would give them cell phones and worry when they stayed out too late.

He'd almost gotten away with it.

But Elsa was a nightmare. Zeltrax was completely insane, that wasn't in doubt; Mesegog was warped and twisted; but Elsa was _sane_. She followed Mesegog not out of insanity, but loyalty and love.

And she had always been the one opponent that kept Tommy from ever leaving the doors unlocked.

Zeltrax announced himself constantly, and Mesegog tended to just send down Tyrannodrones, but Elsa got her hands dirty and acted like a professional assassin. Or thief. Or spy. Or anything. If her master wanted it, she could give it to him.

And last week, Tommy hadn't been planning on introducing himself to a brand-new principal, because the old one had been doing just fine until his 'heart attack'.

"No." Tommy finally said, starting the car.

"_No_?" Three voices echoed.

"Think about it." Tommy explained as he pulled out. "Have we ever seen Elsa hold off on a kill? She's had access to the principal's records since at least two weeks ago, since it takes her about a week to plan a kill. She could've gotten to all of you at any time. Heck, you guys were in her office." His eyes darkened. "Whatever she wants, it involves all of you alive."

"That's reassuring." Kira grouched, shuddering.

Tommy sighed. "Look, when you guys get home, do me a favor and get packed. Be ready to leave in thirty seconds. But for now, we can play this by ear." He turned the Jeep. "Anyway, you guys like museums, right?"

All four of them glanced at each other. Then they burst out laughing.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Unknown_  
_Date: August 27, 2003_

"I brought food."

He didn't look up from the paper.

Elsa sighed and turned to the mini-refrigerator, opening it to examine the evidence of his eating habits. He'd somehow smuggled a pizza in there. She held up the box with an exasperated sigh.

"_You_ don't have to eat it."

Elsa snorted and chucked it in the trash. She reached for the groceries, but missed; the rooms he haunted were dim, even if she'd managed to clean them a bit.

"Don't!"

Elsa paused, her hand halfway to the switch.

"...I like it dark."

Elsa had to wonder if what he wanted was dark, or a dark _Ranger_, but she let it go. Instead she moved the groceries a bit closer, filling the fridge.

"How are you doing?" This was serious now, much more than usual.

"...Fine."

She sighed.

There was a moment of silence before the words she'd expected to hear. "I miss them."

Elsa moved to rub his shoulders. She didn't often permit herself to show pride or compassion. It was weak. Weakness was...dangerous.

But she was too weak for what came next. She needed him. And she...

No.

She wasn't _that_ weak yet. No matter what happened to her.

"Soon." She whispered. "You'll have your revenge soon. I promise."

Then she kissed the top of his head and moved to put the groceries away.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Reefside High, California_  
_Date: August 27, 2003_

The alarm system was easy to unlock if you knew what you were doing.

Tommy didn't bother with that. He wanted to shake her up, make her think someone was after _her_ for a change. Getting Elsa to jump at shadows was a favorite pastime of the darker half of his soul.

And it worked out pretty well for the rest of him.

His eyes were just a touch greener as he snipped the right wires to disable the alarm system instead of unlocking it. Then he walked around and hefted a rock. Not Green's preferred method, but Tommy chuckled, telling him that, no, they were not using the Dragon Dagger. It was an obvious giveaway.

Instead he threw the rock.

Elsa's office was open to him now. He unlatched the window, climbing through, and started rummaging through papers, searching for anything, anything, that he could use.

The computer, maybe. He sat down, booting it up, and made his best few guesses at her password. One of them hit, and he clicked on a few of her documents. All English. Damn. Nothing new here-

"Looking for something?"

Tommy stood slowly.

Elsa wasn't aiming an Earth gun. Those were a bit too clumsy for her tastes. She preferred offworld plasma blasters, models so light and slim you'd swear they were toys. But if you knew what you were staring at, it was almost scarier. Some of the lower-power models didn't have enough firepower to blow a hole through you-instead the metal generator pellets would hit you, embed in your skin, and set you on fire.

Tommy really hoped she hadn't found those.

Elsa glanced at her desktop. "And just what," She asked slowly, "Did you think you were going to find there?"

Tommy heard the tremble in her voice. "Enough."

Bluffing had been the wrong move. Elsa's face froze, an expression any police veteran could realize. The person wearing it was about to snap.

Tommy froze.

Elsa reached a hand out. Tommy let her. If she was going to slap him, fine; he'd never seen that expression before, and from what he'd seen when she was sane, pushing her to insanity was more dangerous than letting her hit him once.

Instead she rested her fingertips on his forehead.

Tommy didn't actually register what was going to happen until it did.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Various houses, Reefside_  
_Date: August 27, 2003_

Kira woke up biting back a scream.

She curled in on herself, jackknifing, too afraid to even think, let alone react. It felt as though someone were reaching out and brushing against part of her _soul_.

She tried to form a spell, her lips moving, but no sound came out. She was Tallian, born and raised. Without the words, without the sacred chants of thousands of years of culture, she couldn't summon her magic, even if she were used to doing it.

Tears fell from her eyes.

*PR*PR*PR*

Ethan's foster parents were trying to figure out what was wrong.

They knew Ethan was...different. He was tall, dark-skinned, clearly half-human, where his foster parents were pure Eltarian. But even if they loved him no less for it, that didn't mean they had any idea what to do when he was clearly sick. He was shivering and retching, fevered and muttering soft phrases that meant nothing to them.

All they could do was hold him and cry.

*PR*PR*PR*

Conner moaned.

He was curled up on his bathroom floor, having barfed his guts out already. The presence was still there, still reaching, and it felt badbadbadbadbadbad, made him think of death and black holes and sticky goo and a spider in a web.

He was gonna die. He knew it. Because whatever it was, it was killing Tommy, and anything that could kill his big brother was gonna kill him.

He curled up on the bathroom floor, trying not to cry.

*PR*PR*PR*

Slowly, it ended.

The inky presence faded away. It was a presence that White vaguely recognized, though it was hard to say for sure. He certainly wouldn't put it past her to do...do that...

The other Rangers gathered themselves off the floor, pulling themselves together, crying quietly or just falling back asleep. But White remained awake. White was always awake.

And he wondered.

What was it that she held that dearly?

What?


	3. Day of the Dino Pt II

A\N: I can't really explain much without spoilers, but this will involve a lot of torture, so be warned.

* * *

_Location: Reefside High, Reefside_  
_Date: August 28, 2003_

Conner, Ethan, and Kira skidded up to each other, identical looks of panic in their eyes. "No." They all said at the same time.

That confirmed it. Tommy was missing.

All of them were terrified. They'd skipped class that morning, unable to handle so many people after the...thing that had happened the night before. They'd fully expected Tommy to show up, breathing fire.

He hadn't.

The rest of the day had been a balance on knifepoint between avoiding Randall, not getting called in as truant, and finding Tommy. But they couldn't. Tommy wasn't there.

"Did we check his office?" Conner grasped at the last straw.

The three turned, thinking the same thing. Of course. Tommy had to be there. Had to.

Conner jiggled the doorknob.

"...It's..." He started, planning on saying _jammed_.

"Locked," Principal Randall finished for him, sweeping up. "As it will stay." She smiled coldly at the three horrified expressions. "Dr. Oliver has found it necessary to take a...temporary leave of absence. I've had Mr. Bronson covering his classes in his place. If you three have a science question, I suggest you direct it to him." Her eyes narrowed. "And if there are any other questions, I'm sure I can help. Personally."

Kira and Ethan were already backing up a step, but never let it be said Conner McKnight looked before he leaped. He stepped up, glaring. "Okay. Where's Dr. O?"

Principal Randall's eyes narrowed dangerously.

To his credit, Conner gulped, but stood his ground.

"Dr. Oliver has not seen fit to inform me of that _detail_." Randall snapped. "Rest assured, when I do find out his employment will be terminated with _extreme_ prejudice, even if I found out he'd been lying in a ditch with two tons of a wrecked car over him, am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am." _...Damnit. That was going to be intelligent._

Randall fixed all of them with a glare. "Now, if that's all...get back to class!" She turned and swept off.

The three teenagers glanced at each other, then darted for the doors.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Mesegog's Laboratory, Unknown Waters_  
_Date: August 28, 2003_

...The attacks stopped.

Tommy didn't try to move. It wasn't so much that he was strapped down as that he'd been having seizures for the past...how long? A day? A week? He had no idea. Just memories of shattered, brilliant fragments of time, bits of awareness turning on and off like light switches as his muscles spasmed and his mouth spewed strings of gibberish.

Of somewhere in those fragments, gaining just enough awareness to realize that Elsa had broken into his mind.

Ordinary psychics fought, but whether they were an untrained Earth psychic or a Tallian sorcerer they always followed the same rule: Battles were never initiated within one opponent's mind. There was a word for what happened when that rule was broken. It translated roughly to mind-rape, but Tommy didn't know the actual word.

If it was a normal being on the other end, they would have nothing more than an intense headache. If it were another psychic, though, then they would have such a strong reaction that they literally tore the brain tissue apart.

And then the brain would run every imaginable test, trying to diagnose the problem and save itself, before the seizurelike 'tests' broke enough of the lining of the nose and various skins in the mouth, not to mention punctured a few lungs with broken ribs, to drown the victim in their own blood.

Every time he woke, he clung to it, trying to force the seizure away. Every time he passed out, it was with a sharp terror that he would never wake up again.

But somehow he'd survived.

It was hard to explain how he knew the attacks were over. It just was. Tommy didn't bother questioning it, instead simply laying still in the leather straps he'd yanked so hard against he'd caused what felt like a broken wrist.

At least it wasn't a rib. He'd seen that, once, when two apprentices had tried to battle without knowing the rules and with too much innate stubbornness to listen to their instincts. He...wondered if he'd actually managed to save the boy.

Footsteps.

Tommy turned his head, but there was a light shining in his eyes. He'd gotten used to looking at the edges, but he couldn't see anything. The footsteps were clawed, though, so he could make an educated guess. Not that he'd say it aloud. At his last check, he sounded like a drunken idiot, and he'd prefer to sound like he had some measure of control in front of Mesegog.

"Dr. Thhomassss Oliverrr. Hhow..._niiicce_ of you to join ussss."

Tommy stayed silent.

The light vanished. In the sudden pitch-black, Tommy blinked, trying to will his vision to readjust more quickly.

Something bumped his foot.

Tommy gasped in agony. His foot was broken. Great. Well, as long as the bones hadn't moved too much, they'd probably heal fairly straight. It wasn't the first time the Power had healed his injuries.

...What was that? Tommy frowned. The pain he could push aside; there was something dark on the edge of his awareness. He blinked into the gloom. Dark and...and...

_No. Please, God. No._

"Yesssss."

Tommy shut his eyes and ducked back behind the natural psychic shielding he had. He'd forgotten just how dangerous it was to expose his thoughts near another psychic.

Mesegog chuckled, reaching out, but his hand was transforming into flesh. "I can still hear you." Anton Mercer's voice sing-songed.

Tommy flinched.

"Did you think I'd _forget_, Tommy?" Anton's voice asked sharply. "How you left me to _die_?" A hand grabbed his chin and turned it to face him.

He could see Anton's face now. There was no triumph or eagerness or sadism or any of the emotions Tommy had once associated with his old mentor. Only pain and bitterness.

_I did that. Oh, god. I did that to him._

"Why did you leave?" Anton whispered. "Tommy..." He glanced over his shoulder, checking for Elsa. She had a tendency to break up any conversation that Anton and Tommy had without Mesegog's influence. "Why didn't you save me?"

Tommy couldn't reply.

Anton's face jerked. Tommy couldn't look away; Anton's grip was too strong, supernaturally so as his muscles spasmed. At least it was less than Tommy's seizures. Just a transformation, just fingers to claws, skin to scales.

The claws drew blood from his chin before the Power healed it.

"Didyou...missss him, Thomassss?" Mesegog hissed, licking the blood from his claws in his odd, jerky way of moving. "Misss...yourold frieend?"

Mesegog's head shot out, snakelike, stopping so close to Tommy's face that Tommy could smell the thing's breath. "He'sssss mine now."

"What do you want." _...Wow, Tommy. That was pathetic._

Mesegog chuckled and turned to Tommy's feet again, to the small metal table that had bumped it. There was a clear stone on it, but distorted. In the center, Tommy could make out something small and dark, some sort of impurity...

_Or another stone. A Dino Gem. Like the three others you pulled out of identical casings._

_Y'know. Just maybe._

"Youknow what...thisss isss. Breakit...out for me." Mesegog tapped the clear stone.

"No."

The difference between Mesegog and the other monsters Tommy had faced, Tommy thought in the part of his mind not screaming in agony, was that Mesegog _enjoyed_ things like blood and gore. He _enjoyed_ getting his hands dirty. Literally, too; Mesegog's reptilian DNA was carnivorous, which made his eating habits interesting. Tommy had a sneaking suspicion about what had happened to a few interns.

Mesegog drew his clawed hand out of Tommy's stomach and glanced at the wound. "Your Powerrrr will...hhhheall thisss." He hissed. "Butnot without...sssscarrrsssss." Mesegog reached up and set his claw on Tommy's cheek. "I wonder hhhow many it will take...for you to give me thissss ssssstone."

Mesegog pulled.

Tommy laughed.

Mesegog reared back, blinking, and Tommy slowly stopped laughing. "That?" He demanded. "_That's_ your plan? _Pain_? Oh my god, are you _retarded_? Even Anton wasn't that stupid." _Yes. Anton was_ bad. _Remember this, remember it now, before he throws Anton at you again and you forget all the things that he did to crush your soul._

"No. Not...quite." Mesegog's smile was sadistic. "Thisss...isss just the beginning."

He struck.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: 1992 Valencia Rd, Reefside_  
_Date: August 28, 2003_

Conner gently pushed the door open.

They'd been living with Tommy for three years, in motel rooms, tents, the constant big white van that Conner had named Eric and they'd had to sell one day, cueing many fake tears from Ethan and Conner until Tommy groaned and distracted them with a water-gun fight. They'd never been inside of Dr. Oliver's house before.

So they walked in carefully.

It was...different from a motel room. Nicer. A lot of wood, some tasteful decorations. A few papers were scattered on the coffee table. Conner glanced around, as awed as his Gem-siblings.

"Maybe he's sick." Kira whispered.

"We'dve felt it!" Ethan hissed back, outraged. "We always feel that!" And they usually got sick in turn, given that they used to live together, but never mind that.

"Up here." Conner called.

Tommy's bedroom was empty, neat, and contained more green and black than they'd ever seen. It wasn't garish or bad, or even really that obvious, just...Green. And Black.

Conner grinned and reached up to the katana hanging over his bed. "Ooh, look! Samurai!" He grabbed the sword, swishing it playfully and wildly.

"Put that back, you idiot, you're going to hurt someone." Kira snapped, pulling the weapon from his hands and putting it away. "He's not here."

The mood dropped.

"Don't look at me like that! _Someone_ had to say it!"

"All right." Conner sighed, nodding. "Let's find them, then."

"You sure, dude?" Ethan asked, rubbing an old, hidden burn scar on his wrist. "I mean, last time..."

"It won't hurt this time." Conner smiled as best he could at his little brother. It wasn't well. "Promise."

Ethan raised an eyebrow.

Conner gave up on faked compassion. "What, you chicken?"

Ethan snorted and turned for the door, telling Conner to do something not entirely compatible with the laws of physics.

It took a few minutes, but Conner finally got bored and started playing with the tyrannosaurus statue on the coffee table. They gleefully headed down the stairs, while singing the Batman song at the top of their lungs.

Then they saw the Dino Gems.

It was like a...call, almost. It drew them in. Ethan was the first to shiver and turn away, but Kira and Conner followed as soon as Conner muttered some excuse about 'hey, look, computers'.

"Do we really want to do this?" Ethan asked. His hand reflexively covered his wrist.

"No." Kira snarked.

"We don't have a choice." Conner reminded them. "Tommy's in trouble."

They looked at each other, then nodded.

"Okay. So, what do we do?" Ethan asked Conner.

"Uhhh..."

Kira sighed and walked over to the Dino Gems. "Relax, Tommy told me a few months back. We've already finished Phase One Bonding. We just have to pick them up." She frowned. "Actually, last time that was all we had to do too, there's just some magic words or something you say, but whatever."

Ethan raised a wrist.

"That's why we're going to save Tommy."

Conner walked over to the pedestal, followed by Ethan. "On three." They all nodded. "One...two...three."

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Mesegog's Laboratory, Unknown Waters_  
_Date: August 28, 2003_

The pain hadn't been the plan. But it hadn't helped.

Tommy still didn't know _what_ Mesegog's plan was, actually. The thing was a sadist. But whatever it was, it apparently involved him being too high on pain to think straight.

_Mindwarp, then. He's going to attack your emotions and...and...what was I thinking? Damn. I feel high as a kite. Hehe. Kite. I'm flying._

There was a noise.

Tommy frowned. ...Was that a puppy? He twisted, but he couldn't see where the sound was coming from. It was a strange, small noise...

Someone was crying.

"Shut up," Elsa growled, and then there was a scream. Elsa came into view dragging Anton behind her, Anton stumbling against her as she chained him to a wall.

Elsa turned to Tommy.

"Since you've decided not to cooperate," Elsa spat, "My master decided to give you a little...incentive."

_No. Not him. Please._

Elsa struck Anton in the face. His head snapped to one side. Tommy's stomach churned. Elsa smirked-she must have been almost as much of a sadist as Mesegog, Tommy decided-and pulled out a sticklike thing. A cattle prod? She touched it to Anton's side, and he screamed. She backhanded him to shut him up.

Tommy wrenched against the straps holding him down.

"Stop struggling, you idiot." Elsa snapped at him. "Those won't break. You only have two options here." She grinned. "And I like one of them."

Tommy didn't want to say anything. He still whispered. "Anton..."

Anton raised his head.

He looked like hell. It felt like someone had punched Tommy in the stomach. At that point, he felt like he would have deserved it-he'd left Anton at the mercy of things like Elsa, and with Mesegog _inside_ of him-but what was worse was that Tommy _didn't know what to do_.

He'd never known what to do. Not when it came to the real world. He could remember his confidence, as Zeo Red, as White Ninjetti, even as Green _Rangari_, but that was just bravado. Anton had been there. Anton had _always_ been there. Been angry, yes, but now Tommy barely remembered that.

He couldn't beg. Couldn't reveal his own weakness. All he could do was pray Anton would understand.

Anton's eyes were as cold and hard as diamonds.

"Tommy." He whispered. "Help them. Please."

Elsa snickered. "Awww, you're taking away all my fun." She reached out to grab Anton's chin, and he flinched, looking so terrified, so much like a kicked puppy, Tommy was nearly sick. "I can have so much more fun with him..."

Tommy couldn't do it. He couldn't do anything. He felt helpless. How could he betray the Power?

But how could he just watch while Anton was tortured?

"Tommy...please..." There was a sickening sound as Elsa hit Anton again, then picked up the cattle prod. "_Please_-" The begging turned into a scream of agony.

Tommy opened his mouth.

*PR*PR*PR*

_The Power is a mysterious entity._

_Most who follow it claim it has some sort of sentience. While this obviously is untrue-there is no body to house an intelligence-to the untrained eye, it would be hard to understand this distinction._

_The Power has, after all, a very apt sense of timing._

_Conner, Ethan, and Kira raised morphers into the air._

"DINO THUNDER, POWER UP!"


	4. Day of the Dino Pt III

First, I'm sorry I'm late updating. This chapter was a brat and I didn't have enough computer time. Second, this is a _very_ short chapter, because, well, it's supposed to be a TV show, and I suck at transcribing fight scenes. This episode pretty much had the average fight-scene time of a usual PR ep. So I finally had to just transcribe the plot and leave the fight scenes out. I have a feeling they won't be too hard to imagine, though...:p

* * *

_Location: Mesegog's Laboratory, Unknown Waters_  
_Date: August 30, 2003_

This is how it feels to be Tommy Oliver:

For the first time, you are a father.

Conner, Kira, and Ethan share no DNA with you, but that is a formality. They share more, share games and fights and laughter and nightmares; they are the children of your soul. And your daughter, one of the three precious jewels of your heart, has cried herself to sleep on your shoulder while you bandaged horrifying injuries and tried not to weep over them too.

Someone has hurt your child. And you will kill them.

It's as simple as that.

The morph shimmers away almost before you knew you would morph. Green. Of course it would be. You are the first Green Ranger, Commander of the Green Power.

But first things first.

You cut your way free and scout out a safe place to hide Kira, a room someone abandoned when you sunk the island. The only other time you'd been this angry, come to think of it. Mesegog really hadn't learned anything from that.

Kira doesn't wake when you set her down on the old couch. Probably for the best. You don't plan on keeping your gloves clean.

Then you head straight for Mesegog.

A few Tyrannodrones encounter you. You take the first one, tear its arm off, and use the limb to snap its neck. The other drones run away as quickly as possible.

Alarms go off.

You grin.

Mesegog is in his command center with his generals. You wrench the doors apart with your bare hands, and idly notice Kira hiding in a corner. You take your blaster and toss it to her. She can shoot anything that escapes. She's a pretty good shot.

You pull the door shut, though. She doesn't _really_ need to see this. Anyway, you're already a bit gross from Tyrannodrone blood.

Zeltrax charges first. You kick him in the balls, for the lulz. (And make a note to self: Stop lurking on Ethan's sites, you're starting to pick up their lingo, and really, you are far too old for that.) He makes a rattling, mewling noise, and Elsa screams like a banshee, charging. You stab her stomach with the Dragon Dagger, then hit her temple with it, sending her down. As an afterthought, you strike the back of Zeltrax's skull the same way.

"Sloppy." You comment when he goes down. "Armor should cover natural weak points."

Then you walk up to Mesegog and sink your fist into his face.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Reefside, Earth_  
_Date: August 30, 2003_

Conner and Ethan studied the street. Tyrannodrones were wandering around it, looking for civilians.

"Okay, we need a plan." Ethan whispered.

Conner held up a fist and raised an eyebrow.

Ethan rolled his eyes.

The two of them were, technically, not supposed to be out of the hospital yet, but they'd gotten bored and found a working radio, which was transmitting emergency broadcasts from citizens who couldn't make it to a shelter, and, well, they were _almost_ healed. Kinda.

"Tommy would _slaughter_ us." Ethan whispered.

"Dude. Tommy's not here." Conner paused, catching a glimmer of Ethan's thought, that he sounded like a little boy with a new car. "..._Dude_."

Ethan grinned. Slowly. Gleefully.

They nodded in synch, then ran off.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Mesegog's Laboratory, Unknown Waters_  
_Date: August 30, 2003_

The Power was changing.

Tommy gritted his teeth as he blocked a strike. This was _weird_. He'd started off calling on the Green Power, but as soon as he'd sunk his fist into Mesegog's face, it had felt...different. Darker.

Almost _black_...

Tommy growled, resorting to a more complex, but more powerful series of moves. He was losing power, too. Green was a violent Color, a living weapon. Whatever he was transitioning to was calmer, more defensive. It wanted to wait and form barriers.

This was not exactly part of his kill-everything-that-moves-in-revenge plan.

Tommy slammed his fist into Mesegog again, this time simply frustrated. What did the Power _want_? Why was he so-

Kira screamed.

Something...happened. It was a bit too fast for Tommy's brain to register. He glanced down. Judging from the corpse, Zeltrax had woken up and attacked Kira. Kira had shot Zeltrax, while Tommy had taken the sharp edge of a table that was apparently connected to the floor and shoved it through Zeltrax's spine.

Okay, then.

Tommy turned back to the fight when all of it started adding up. The darkness, the protectiveness...

He glanced at the still-encased Black Dino Gem.

"Hey, Mesegog." Tommy asked, a very evil grin sliding over his face. "You still want that Gem open?"

*PR*PR*PR*

August thirtieth was not the day the world learned just how much they needed heroes.

Instead, it was the day that Tommy Oliver and the Dino Rangers, using morphers and what they gleefully referred to as 'BFGs', saved Planet Earth. It was the day that a new team of Rangers was formed.

And it was the day when everyone blinked and asked a question that, amidst the dishes and laundry and picking up kids from soccer practice, hadn't been asked.

There had been other Ranger teams. Rangari, the first Rangers, obviously; the Space Rangers; Lightspeed; Time Force; Wild Force; and rumors of ninjas.

Those teams had vanished three years ago.

Where had they gone?


	5. Wave Goodbye

A\N: I'm sorry this is so late in the day, my scheduling's been hectic. Luckily, a class was canceled, so I can update. Enjoy!

* * *

_Location: 1992 Valencia Drive_  
_Date: August 31, 2003_

"There. Done." Dana smiled at Conner, who had been visibly trying not to fidget the entire time.

"Thanks, Mrs. Greyson!" Conner chirped, bouncing to his feet and charging for the door. Kira and Ethan were already in the backyard, playing some probably-invented sport involving the sort of energy only a teenager is capable of.

Tommy glanced at Dana.

The kind, sweet smiles and benevolent tone she wore whenever she treated patients vanished as soon as the back door shut. Dana turned to Tommy with a glare made of stone.

Tommy didn't have a reply.

"Three years." Dana hissed. "_Three years_, we have been waiting. And then you do _this_." She stalked up to Tommy holding the pair of scissors she'd been using to cut a bandage for Conner with, her knuckles white from how hard she gripped it. "Give me one reason I should not take these children away from you right now."

"They have no idea that you're anything but the nice doctor lady?" Tommy snarked.

He regretted it almost instantly. Dana looked torn between anguish and rage. "I'm sorry." Tommy said, horrified. "I'm sorry, I didn't..."

Dana's anger faded away, and she sighed. "I know. Me too." She glanced at the scissors, now bent into imprints of her fingers, and tossed them into the trash can, shaking her head. "Damnit."

Tommy's lips twitched. Dana just looked so _human_, it was easy to forget sometimes that she could melt things just by touching them. In all fairness, Dana forgot it sometimes too; the delayed puberty of Daemon halflings was a (HIGH COMMAND WOULD LIKE TO ASK THE SCRIPTWRITERS TO WATCH THEIR LANGUAGE).

"Don't even think about it." Dana warned, but her lips quirked too.

"They know you'd be there." Tommy reassured her.

"They don't know why." Dana was half-accusing.

Tommy sighed. "No." He admitted. "They don't."

Dana looked horrified.

Tommy looked at the children playing in the sunlight. Darkness whispered across his mind, lingering darkness from his captivity, but he banished them with a skill born of far too much practice. "I told them that you guys wish you could have been here, but you can't, so they had to stay with me for a while." He shook his head. "I didn't think..."

"That it would take this long?" Dana's tone was sharp. She'd been sweet and innocent once, Tommy remembered; he missed that part of her. "Yeah. _Never_ could've seen _that_ one coming."

Tommy sighed. "I didn't. Sue me."

There was silence.

Dana started packing up her things, tossing the warped scissors in the trash. "We should get together. I'll call Jason and-"

"You didn't hear?" Tommy demanded, startled. "Jason's dead, Day."

She really wasn't innocent. Dana just looked at Tommy, for a long moment, then started packing again.

They'd all lost too many friends. Not to death, but if you knew you were never going to see someone again...if you were sensitive enough, it could kill you.

"I'll get everyone on the comms, we'll regroup, talk strategy." Tommy told her as gently as he could. Dana's eyes dropped and she started packing, too quickly, things spilling everywhere. "Tonight, I promise. And I'll update our list..."

Dana snorted. "Gotta be long by now."

"Two. Total." Tommy gave a wry smile. "We're doing well, Day."

Dana hefted her bag. She didn't meet Tommy's eyes.

Tommy watched silently as yet another person left.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Unknown_  
_Date: August 31, 2003_

Elsa was drunk.

It was rare, but it happened, and today...today was a day when the Goddess' face had turned completely from her. Oh, hell, Elsa wasn't kidding herself, that one had happened a long time ago, but at least she wasn't usually this _aware_ of it.

She threw her shot glass into the wall.

Oliver. Oliver, damn him-the blasted _Power Ranger_, he would destroy everything, _everything_! Elsa surged to her feet, flying in a rage at the punching bag and whaling on it with the grace and coordination of someone with far less alcohol in their system.

Her son...

The thought was enough to make her stop and force herself to breath, to return to her senses. Son. Yes. Her son. She was cold and vicious and uncaring, but for now she would be calm, would be sane.

She had a plan. Long-term, dangerous, and subtle, perhaps. But her plan would succeed, with or without Oliver.

She just had to make sure of it.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: 1992 Valencia Drive_  
_Date: August 31, 2003_

"I don't know, Tommy." Carter's hologram flickered as he glanced over the plans he'd printed out. Tommy made a mental note that at least one of his Reds was a damn idiot, but oh, well. "This seems a bit..."

"Complicated?" Billy suggested irritably.

There were days when Tommy wished he could give every single Ranger on Earth a hug, and this was shaping up to be one such day. "Guys, we lost." He admitted, trying to be blunt enough to shock them into understanding. "We can't mediate our way out of this. But we can stop a war, if we get lucky."

"You do realize this means you'll have to be a superhero." Wes teased.

Tommy rolled his eyes. "I think I'll live." The Rangers sniggered; Tommy's tendencies to heroics were less pronounced than Jason's, but he'd been voted the second most likely to be an idiot hero until Andros had shown up.

Tommy glanced at the blank screen where Karone should be, his mood sombering. Karone wasn't able to contact them in her work. Not now. Andros would have to relay messages.

"Anyway. That's all I had to say. Everyone has the assignments?" Nods, as Tommy had known there would be, but this was too important to not ask. "All right. Power protect you all."

They all switched off their chat screens.

Tommy sighed and stared at the static on his before switching his own off. Then he went out of his room. He'd put Kira in her own room and Conner and Ethan in their own, but they'd all ended up in Conner and Ethan's, sleeping in a nest of pillows and blankets. Dana had warned him about that. The Power wanted teammates to be physically close when they slept in case of attack, and the Dino Gems themselves were a bit...clingy.

Tommy gently pulled a blanket over all of them and smiled before tiptoeing out.

Downstairs he poured himself a drink.

It was going to be a long night.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Reefside High_  
_Date: September 1, 2003_

"I cannot_ believe_ we're still going to school!" Conner said, whether enthusiastically or just intensely Tommy couldn't tell.

Tommy smiled. He'd been worried about that too, but honestly, it was probably safer than re-enrolling all of them for no reason. Anyway, they needed to keep an eye on Elsa now.

Speaking of whom.

Tommy saw Elsa out of the corner of his eye and tapped Conner's shoulder. "Class, guys. Go."

"But you're late!" Conner pointed out. Gleefully. Tommy rolled his eyes. Teenagers.

"I'll be there in just a minute. Go play with paper airplanes or something."

Conner snorted and headed off with the others, all of them avidly discussing some zombie movie about to come out. Tommy sighed, squared his shoulders, and headed for Elsa.

_THOOM._

The ground shook. Tommy had a sinking feeling he knew exactly what was causing it, too-and sure enough, when he looked up, there was a very, very large monster.

Elsa was smirking.

Tommy sighed. Time to get to work.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Downtown Reefside_  
_Date: September 1, 2003_

So that was it?

Tommy ran over the fight in his head. He and his kids had showed up and curb-stomped the monster in ten minutes flat. No struggle, not even a glitch in the coordination. They'd had harder battles with Tyrannodrones, even when Tommy factored in the Power.

The battlefield was still a mess, of course, but the teens were helping pick up. Tommy, though, was examining the battlefield a bit more closely. This had to be a trap. It had to be.

Finally, after long, nerve-wracking minutes, Tommy saw a glimmer of white. He approached it cautiously, expecting an explosive.

It was a sheet of paper.

Tommy picked it up. The handwriting was Elsa's. A message for him.

_Black Ranger,_

_I know where you live. I know where you work. I know what you eat. I know when you sleep. I know every single thing about you._

_My master graciously permits you to live for now. But remember: Step out of line, and you can wave goodbye to your life. This monster was weak. The next one doesn't have to be._

No signature.

Tommy studied it for a long time. Then he folded the note and carefully teleported it home, to study it further.

The bloody triangle made by Zeltrax, Elsa, and Mesegog...

What were they _up_ to?


	6. Love Bites

A\N: So, boys, and girls, today we learn two important lessons. First, if your textbooks arrive two weeks late, just give up before you spend a whole week cramming only to get a 27% on a test. Second, do not post without taking a minute to ask 'hmm, wait, am I posting the right chapter?', because your answer may in fact be 'yes, yes I am', but you will not know this, you will remove said chapter, and will look like an idiot. So yeah. However, the next chapter will be ready next Thursday, without any more chaos. Enjoy. :)

* * *

_Location: Jurassic Park Island, California Waters_  
_Date: July 12, 2000_

Haley woke up in Tommy's bed. Her head was groggy. It was dark out, too. Why was she...

Tommy helped her sit up.

Haley blinked. Was that even really _Tommy_? It looked the same, even the bruise fading on his jaw and the mark on his shoulder...but oh, god, his eyes were so cold.

"Get dressed. Hurry."

Haley obeyed.

Her ribs hurt as she pulled on her clothes. Everything hurt. Part of her was still there, with Anton standing over her and screaming, feeling every single blow strike...

Tommy pulled the shirt over her head, bringing her back. Right. Not the time. Right. She had to focus.

"What's going on?" Haley whispered.

Tommy pressed a suitcase into her hand. "There's enough money here for a few weeks, but you need to go to a hospital as soon as you get to the mainland. I'm not sure you don't have a broken rib."

"What?"

Tommy took Haley's hand, guiding her out into the empty living quarters of the scientists. It was deserted; Anton's collection of students and friends had ebbed away, leaving only Tommy and Haley.

What Anton had hired to replace friends weren't worth thinking of as human.

When Haley saw the boat she understood. "Won't..." She started.

Tommy snorted. "No. He won't follow you."

Haley stopped. "No." Tommy glanced at her, confused, and Haley felt her strength (strength, where had that been a few hours ago, where had it been all these months) returning. "No, Tommy, you are _not_ going to stay here and send me off without-"

"Haley." There was something in Tommy Haley had never seen before. She shivered and fell silent. "If we both leave, he _will_ follow us." Tommy whispered. "But not if I stay."

Silence.

"The experiments." Haley guessed. "The ones..." She trailed off, gesturing at her wrist.

Tommy winced. Anton had 'accidentally' spilled acid on Tommy's wrist, pressing a gemstone to it to see what happened. Later, during an argument, he had 'accidentally' cut the same place, pressing the same stone to it.

Tommy told Haley it was an experiment, he knew what it was, and it would always fail. He never told her anything more than that.

Tommy dug something out of Haley's pocket. A stone, the same one Anton kept 'testing' on Tommy. "Take this. Keep it safe." He locked eyes with Haley as the stone pressed into her palm. "No matter what happens, _never use it_."

It was an emerald. Haley tucked it into her bra. No one would look for a jewel there. "Come with me."

Tommy smiled. Sadly.

Then, Haley didn't know how, she found herself on the boat and screaming out Tommy's name while it left and he waved from the shoreline.

From the shore, Tommy watched Haley float away. Then he heard footsteps behind him and turned. It was funny, there wasn't any emotion seeing his mentor's face, not even fear. Tommy felt as if he were high on a cold mountaintop, watching Anton advance with a face like stone.

The first blow still hurt, though.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: 1992 Valencia Drive_  
_Date: September 7, 1992_

It hadn't been the best night.

Tommy knew the kids were already over (they'd apparently decided that they were only going to leave when Tommy actually kicked them out), but he took a while in the shower, looking himself over, running his fingertips over what he couldn't see, trying to make sure there were no bruises, no scars.

At least he only remembered one nightmare. He could guess at what the others had been. They were better left wherever his brain kept unremembered nightmares.

Tommy came out and went to the kitchen, starting pancakes before he remembered what he was doing. He stared at the batter, Haley's laughter and Anton's dry humor ringing in his ears.

He shook his head and started making pancakes.

Tommy went down to the lair with his stack, muttering something about work, and buried himself in paperwork. Damnit. He hated that dream, hated remembering...

The alarms started beeping.

Tommy groaned. Another day, another monster.

_FML._

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Mesegog's Island, Unknown Waters_  
_Date: September 7, 2003_

If there was one thing Elsa hated, it was stupid people.

She really wished her master didn't count as one of them.

"Welll?" Mesegog hissed, having just demanded to know why she sent 'weak' monsters after the Power Rangers and if she was secretly in league with them. "Doyou...hhhave an excussse?"

"My lord," Elsa said as politely as she could manage, "I'm not sending down monsters to defeat them, I'm sending down monsters to get readings on their Power levels."

Mesegog blinked.

Elsa smiled charmingly, pressing her advantage by walking over to the computer and calling up the relevant screens. "You see, Master, in each monster is a scanning device. By using this, combined with what I can learn from the Galactic Ranger Corps' public database, I can cross-reference exactly what type of weakness they have, so we can design a monster based on that."

Mesegog blinked.

Elsa prayed. There was more than a hint of sarcasm in her prayer, but the Goddess was probably laughing. Or not listening. Pick one.

"Your plan isss...unnesssecarrry." Mesegog hissed finally. "Wecan...defeaaatthem eassssily. Next time I order an attaack...donot hessitate."

Elsa tried Plan B. She walked over to Mesegog, reaching out to caress his shoulders and smiling winningly. "My lord, I understand your impatience, I really do, but we're not fighting some rookie here. Tommy Oliver is the leader of-"

Elsa saw stars. Her head had hit the wall. So had most of her body.

She got up slowly, bowing. "Yes, my lord."

She walked away.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Unknown_  
_Date: September 7, 2003_

His mother wasn't sleeping well.

She had a concussion. He'd learned how to treat those, sometimes on himself, but it was terrifying to have his mother and teacher as a patient.

What if he got it wrong?

After a few hours of fruitless waiting, he gave up and started drawing. He'd covered his bedroom completely with drawings, but this one had occurred to him a while ago.

In this drawing, there was a huge, lonely battlefield. No one was in sight. The city around the combatants were desolate ruins. He drew the Power Rangers kneeling in a semicircle around Mesegog's dead body, then his mother, standing over Mesegog with a knife dripping blood. Nuclear warheads flew over them in the sky.

That was when his mother woke up.

Elsa blinked and answered questions and seemed all right. He was relieved. She looked at his drawing, and he felt a bit embarrassed. It was a childish game.

His mother smiled.

"Where are you?" She asked.

She wasn't awake for much longer than that, she still needed rest, but when she fell asleep again, he frowned at the drawing.

Then, carefully, he put himself behind his mother, supporting her. Her loyal son.

He always would be.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: 1992 Valencia Drive_  
_Date: September 7, 2003_

"Hey Dr. Ooooo!" Conner sing-songed. "You've got a girlfriend!"

"What?" Kira jerked upright. They'd all half-fallen asleep in front of the TV, since it had started to rain. "Ooooh..." Kira's grin was pure evil.

Tommy groaned and swiped at the phone. "Conner, gimme." Conner snickered and handed the phone over. "Hey, whosis?" Tommy muttered.

_"Tommy?"_ Haley asked.

Tommy sat bolt upright.

_"We have a problem."_


	7. So Do I

A\N: Sorry about that. From now on, I swear I'm proofreading this thing...anywho, Haley. As was pretty obvious, Anton ended up abusing both Haley and Tommy. So Haley, at the tail end of the healing process, gets a bit of a different intro than Tommy did. She's also going to play a very different role. Thank WMMTGirl, too-her reviews are very detailed and help me figure out what I should and shouldn't do to keep you guys on your toes. :p Enjoy!

* * *

_Location: Silver Hills, Oregon_  
_Date: September 7, 2003_

Even after all the therapy and time she'd put into healing, Haley had always imagined that if she met Anton Mercer, it would involve major fireworks. Mostly in the realm of her punching the bastard in the face.

Which it had. And then a small thud from the explosive. And she should probably be proud of that, except that after she'd blown his head off, she'd just...

Run away.

Haley shivered in the night. She'd called Tommy in a panic, scared and nearly crying, but now she was starting to reconsider. She could see Tommy waiting where she'd told him to.

And part of her didn't want to go to him.

It wasn't Tommy's fault, not at all-she loved the man like a brother, and she still wanted to just go hug him and fall back into that weird friendship they had, where she helped him with his homework and he growled at anyone who tried to date her...

But she'd just _run away_.

Haley saw Tommy get out of the car and sighed. Okay, she was starting to scare him, never mind. She got back in her car and drove down.

It only took five minutes, but she could already see Tommy was a twitching bundle of nerves, and winced. She hadn't meant to do that. She'd just gotten lost in thought. "Sorry, sorry." Haley said, getting out. "I shouldn't have kept you waiting..."

Tommy glomped her.

Haley glomped him back, grinning. "Missed you too."

"What happened?" Tommy demanded, and Haley noticed the very dark aura around him. "Did Anton find you?"

Haley sighed. "...I ran away."

"Oh." Tommy shook his head. "No, no, that's good, he's, um...turned himself into a giant lizard thing."

Haley frowned. "...I think I need a beer."

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Old Smokey bar, Reefside_  
_Date: September 8, 2003_

It was past midnight when Tommy stopped talking.

Haley sipped her drink, not a beer but a Black Russian, because quite frankly it was that sort of night. "So this is going to get complicated, isn't it."

"A bit, yes."

"Tommy, I threw an explosive into the man's _skull_. I've probably got a _homicide_ charge against me right now." Haley shook her head. "I'm more worried about the _cops_ right now, honestly."

Tommy snorted. "Come on. Don't tell me you drove all the way down to Reefside in the middle of the night because you're scared of cops."

Haley looked at the ground.

Tommy felt like he'd been punched in the gut. No, worse. He could take a punch. He'd known that his whole life; it's why he'd gotten Haley out of the way but hadn't been worried about himself, back when they were in grad school.

But worse than anything anyone had ever done to him was watching Haley, the woman who he could have sworn was his long-lost sister, have that expression of shame, fear, and guilt written on her face.

He wanted to kill Anton with his bare hands.

"Look," Tommy said as gently as he could, "For right now, let's just go home."

Haley didn't look up. "I shouldn't have run."

Tommy snorted. "Hales, if Mercer showed up in my kitchen, I'd be halfway to Canada by now." The joke failed, so he tapped the back of her hand. "It's okay to be scared." He said gently. "But you don't have to be anymore."

Haley nodded.

"Come on." Tommy said, pulling out his wallet. "Let's go home."

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: 1992 Valencia Rd, Reefside_  
_Date: September 8, 2003_

Haley woke up in Tommy's house.

The sun was shining. Haley yawned and glanced at the clock. It was nearly noon, and she hadn't fallen asleep until three in the morning.

Her thoughts were still waking her up, though.

She stumbled downstairs and raided Tommy's fridge, reading his note about his school phone number and that he'd be back. She was probably going to be fine for one day, but that was Tommy for you, overprotective as hell.

She made herself food and thought.

She'd been thinking all night, it wasn't much of a surprise that her thoughts circled back. But they weren't focusing on analyzing what Anton was doing in her apartment or how he got there.

They were more focused on his face when she jammed an explosive in his mouth and set it off.

Haley found herself idly wondering when Anton would show up again. She wouldn't be able to fight him if she was like this. Wasn't that why she'd been running? She needed to focus, or he would com...

...come back?

Haley frowned, pausing, not even realizing what she was doing. Come back from _what_? She'd blown his skull off. He _wasn't_ coming back. He was dead.

...He was dead.

It finally kicked in. She'd killed someone. Killed them in cold blood. She started laughing hysterically, leaning against the counter to support herself. When the laughter stopped, she shut her eyes.

Open or shut, she could see the blood everywhere. Out of the corner of her eye, but didn't she know what she'd done? She'd designed the damn thing...

Had she been running from Anton at all, or just from this realization?

Haley took a breath. She'd...she'd killed someone. Taken a life. She let that knowledge settle in, reaching up to the Green Dino Gem hanging around her neck in an instinctive gesture that she honestly didn't realize she even had anymore.

Now she just had to figure out what to do.

_No, you don't,_ Haley's inner voice told her. _You already know._

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Reefside Police Station_  
_Date: September 7, 2003_

"You know," Captain Vasquez said, leaning back, "I've been having a _very_ strange day. Would you like to hear about it?"

Haley cautiously nodded.

"It started when I got an email from Silver Hills PD. Apparently some guy was found dead in an apartment last night. Neighbors really didn't say anything, but they weren't too surprised. Apparently, the resident has a fondness for explosives."

Haley winced.

Captain Vasquez continued. "But you know what that guy did? He _regrew his entire brain case and brain matter_." Captain Vasquez shook his head. "Hell if I know how he even has any memories, but apparently once the autopsy gremlins found him, he tried to throw one into a wall. Then he came down here. Now, this afternoon, he showed up and demanded I charge you with assault and attempted murder."

Haley paled.

"Since he looked totally fine, I sent him away with a flea in my ear, as my dear old mother used to say." Captain Vasquez reached behind him. "Then I found this." He handed it to Haley.

Haley opened it. "A UN file?"

Captain Vasquez nodded and sat behind his desk. "It's impressive reading. Suspected arms dealing, international theft of some highly precious gemstones...Wales is actually pretty angry about that one, they're supposedly some sort of magical stones that King Arthur's court used." Haley tried not to reach for the Green Dino Gem around her throat.

Captain Vasquez saw anyway.

"You weren't the only intern to turn up at a hospital." He said. Haley blushed. She hadn't mentioned that part. "But you_ are_ the only one he tried to contact again. Any reason you can think of?"

Haley tapped the gemstone around her neck.

"Which one is that?" Captain Vasquez asked. "Morgana's?" Haley nodded. "Wow, first guess." Captain Vasquez grinned, then grew serious again. "Ms. Ziktor, I grew up in Angel Grove. We take supervillains _very_ seriously there. And right about now, I'd say we've got a new one on our hands."

Haley shook her head. "The Power Rangers can handle it. I just..." She laughed strangely. "I thought I'd _killed_ him."

Captain Vasquez shrugged. "No body, no crime, in my opinion. And as far as assault charges, given that he landed you in the hospital on one occasion, I don't think he'll bother pressing charges."

Haley nodded slowly.

So that was it. It was...over...she shook her head. This was probably the weirdest day of her life. "I'm sorry, this is..." She blinked. "How can he be _alive_?"

Captain Vasquez snorted. "Heck if I know." He tilted his head. "Actually, I'd have just told you that, but there's something I want to ask you."

Haley felt her heart rate shoot up.

"He's got a son." Captain Vasquez pushed across a picture. "Kid's name is Trent. I'm guessing you want to stay in Reefside for a while, the Power Rangers are here and, well, they're something to watch."

Haley nodded, confused.

"If you run into the kid, keep an eye on him for me, would you?" Captain Vasquez asked.

Haley frowned, turning the idea over in her mind. It made sense...

Made a _lot_ of sense.

Vasquez was from Angel Grove, where Ranger-hunting was the city's pastime. He'd already identified the Dino Gems as the Arthurian Stones. He'd probably figured out that Anton was Mesegog.

And he needed a connection to the Power Rangers. So he needed her to do something for him.

"If you wanted to talk to the Rangers, you could have just asked." Haley found herself saying.

Captain Vasquez chuckled. "Well, I actually wanted to see if you'd hang around first. Didn't think you'd jump in with both feet. But yeah, let them know." He caught her eyes. "If the Power Rangers need anything, I mean _anything_...I'll do what I can."

Haley nodded.

Captain Vasquez tapped the paper. "And I know it's a lot to ask..."

Haley smiled. "If I see him."

"Of course."

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: 1992 Valencia Rd, Reefside_  
_Date: September 7, 2003_

Tommy considered.

There was a lot in what Haley had learned. That the Dino Gems were properly called the Arthurian Stones (Haley had known that, but for her own safety had avoided contacting Tommy, so now she had to fill him in); that the police captain could identify Power Rangers, or at least Ranger allies; that the police force was offering to help the Rangers.

And that Haley wanted to stay.

Tommy glanced at some of the designs Haley had drawn and asked his most burning question. "A cafe?"

Haley grinned. "Kids tell you a lot. Once I've got this set up, it'll be the best source of information we have."

"Clever."

"Thank you."

Tommy nodded. "Then let's build it."

It had been less than twenty-four hours since Haley had thought she was running from something. Now she looked at her plans and smiled.

She'd apparently been running home.


	8. So Fortunate

A\N: Well, I've given up on getting my NaNo count, so I'm gonna update instead. Also, the title of the chapter is an Adema song. For _extra_ fun, listen to this chapter while listening to that song. *shudders* Jeeze, the things my bunnies make me do...

* * *

_Location: Unkown_  
_Date: September 9, 2003_

"The Green Dino Gem moved on the seventh. Haley Ziktor. She's with Tommy now."

"All the pieces are in play, then."

"Exactly."

"Are we waiting?"

"You tell me."

"We could wait. But we won't get anything. Mesegog will only get stronger, and so will we. Actually, the only risk I see is that we _do_ wait. Then we'd end up risking Mesegog getting too strong."

"Not bad."

"We're not waiting?"

"No. Not anymore."

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: h'Ford household, Reefside_  
_Date: September 10, 2003_

Kira didn't usually dream.

She was the daughter of Fire and Earth; as passionate as she was, she was stable, too, a flaming sun for the team to revolve around. When the events that had granted her a Dino Gem started giving her nightmares, she took the most practical route and rewired her brain to prevent dreaming altogether. She didn't particularly miss it.

But it must have been a dream, because she woke up and saw Trent sitting in her windowsill.

Trent was dead.

He'd been the adoptive son of Anton Mercer. They'd met him when Anton had kidnapped them; he'd gone to their high schools and been drawn to all of them. He'd never made the connection between his friendship and the kidnappings. Anton had made sure he was gone before the kidnappings happened.

But then Anton had needed the White Primary.

Kira didn't know what had happened. She didn't like thinking about those months, the time where that...that _thing_ had experimented on them, had let sadistic scientists inject them with things and make them run until they collapsed and fight monsters and Tyranodrones. If she had to remember it, she forced her mind to the few moments with her Gem-brothers, or the times when Trent had held her, when she felt fluttering in her stomach and pure, sweet desire.

Trent had come back more and more heavily injured. Bloodstained, sometimes. He'd brag that it wasn't all his blood, trying to reassure them. She'd held him and crooned the few healing song-spells she knew.

And then one day he just hadn't come back.

So it couldn't be Trent sitting on her windowsill, it had to be a dream. Kira sat up sleepily, but dream-Trent walked over, shushing her and rubbing her back.

Kira reached for his arm, pulling him down next to her. She missed him. It burned like fire, how much she missed him. Dream or not, she could barely help herself, and she couldn't keep her eyes from welling up with tears.

Trent paused, then slid into bed next to her, his arms circling her.

Kira cried. This wound was one of the worst that could be opened. It woke her up a little, but Trent held her until the tears stopped and she just lay in his arms, numb.

She fell asleep a little, but she wanted to do one thing. She tilted her head up and pressed a sleepy kiss to his lips.

"We should've kissed." She whispered, explaining. "Before..." She yawned.

Trent kissed her gently, chastely. "Shh. Go to sleep."

Kira closed her eyes and drifted away.

The next morning, she woke up to an empty bed and made a note to herself to kill whatever part of her brain had dreamed up something like that before going to get some damn coffee.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Mesegog's Island_  
_Date: September 10, 2003_

It was a fine, sunny day on the island, and so the Tyrannodrones were preparing for winter. By this time, they'd set up a society of their own, with whole 'families' of them living in caves.

Into the cave housing the leader strode a boy.

The Tyrannodrones recognized him. Trent Ferdanez, Anton Mercer's son. What was he doing here? They chattered furiously among themselves, some wanting to kill him and eat him, others cautioning patience.

The leader, one of the oldest, stood.

Trent didn't speak their language well, but he spoke it. He was polite, but intense, and asked them only one thing: Did they want the island to themselves?

Yes, the leader replied cautiously.

Trent was an ambassador, he said, for a woman he called 'mother'. A powerful warrior, powerful enough to destroy Mesegog, and if she did, she would give them the island forever, provided they did not attack her.

A generous offer, the elders said. So what's the catch?

No catch, Trent said with a smile. Just a simple exchange. If they would help him during the attack on Mesegog, they could have their island. It was as easy as that.

Yet as traitorous. The Tyrannodrones did not say it aloud, but they were perversely grateful to Mesegog, not so much for creating them as for giving them the occasional human to eat, and making sure there was some game for them on the island. They were carnivores, after all. And they enjoyed human flesh out of pure spite, since they were well aware that, should they leave the island, they would be hunted and killed with extreme prejudice.

But a home of their own was tempting.

They talked for a while, angry or cautious or afraid, and the entire time Trent stood there, waiting, and the leader noticed the boy and thought. There were no child Tyrannodrones, but if there were, the leader might have thought Trent was nothing more than an arrogant child.

But there was something else there. The scent of a woman lingered on him, the Yellow Ranger's scent, and there was a tear track on his cheek. And his stance, while seemingly innocuous, was perfect for fighting on the rocky cave floor. He had weapons on him, faint outlines against his shirt.

The leader made a decision.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Reefside High_  
_Date: September 10, 2003_

Tommy paused.

He was teaching. His kids were off on their next classes, or in Ethan's case trying to hack Anon, which Tommy would usually try to stop, but Anon was apparently amused by the Blue Ranger's attempts, so whatever.

But someone had morphed.

...White. Tommy identified the Ranger. White Ranger. He'd thought that Gem was lost. Hope surged in him-the White Secondary, whoever he or she was, they'd found the Gem, it wasn't-

And then agony hit.

"...Dr. O?"

Tommy winced, but he saw his class staring at him in concern. "Um, I'm sorry...I just got a migraine..." He lied. The pain was intense, worse than any headache he'd ever had. Some part of him could feel the White Ranger screaming in agony.

_A glimmer, too, of an image, of a laboratory and Mesegog's face smiling in pure sadistic joy..._

"Tell you what," Tommy croaked, "I'll let you guys out early today. Go have some fun."

The class looked at each other and grinned, heading for the door. It wasn't until the last of them left that Tommy sank into his chair, shutting his eyes and losing the battle to stand upright.

_There was a glimmer of Elsa kneeling, her face like ice as she looked at her master and husband, and at the White Ranger, and a crazed thought from the White Ranger that she had somehow betrayed him...or maybe not so crazed..._

Tommy bit back his screams. Someone would hear. He just curled up, trying not to whimper in pain.

_The White Ranger screamed and snapped._

The pain stopped.

Tommy gave himself a minute, trying not to gasp or cry. Then he looked up.

One in the afternoon. There was daylight left. Lots of it.

The White Ranger would attack soon.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Mesegog's Island, unknown waters_  
_Date: September 10, 2003_

12:35.

Trent glanced up and smiled. Mesegog was a cold-blooded creature, and slept during the day. He wouldn't be asleep yet, probably, but tired, exhausted.

The last piece of the puzzle.

Trent stood and signaled.

The leader of the Tyrannodrones turned to his people and rapped out orders. There was a pause, and then a wave of black Tyrannodrones surged out, invading the compound.

Trent couldn't hear it, but he could imagine the blood. The pain and death, quick, sudden. Tyrannodrones were lethal killers when they wanted to be, and right now they wanted to be. No one wanted this to go wrong.

The leader turned and nodded to Trent.

Trent raised his wrist. "White Ranger, Drago Power."

And then he _morphed_.

Morphing. It wasn't like anything he'd ever felt, a world of ice and snow and a scream of a proud Dragosaur. It was energy and_ life_ flowing into him. And when the morph cleared away and he was left standing, he walked forward like a conqueror into the base.

The place had always seemed otherworldly. Haunted. The White Ranger ignored that, moving with the calm surety of a warrior knowing the rightness of his cause. He was flying on wings of his mother's glory, ready to kill the only enemy standing in her way. He would be by her side until the end; would bring her all of Earth if she asked.

Together they would rule the world.

The Tyrannodrones guarding the throne room's door chittered a salute to their leader, who chittered back. Trent glanced at the leader. Thank you, he said, mangling the words but still understandable.

Do not call on us again, the leader warned. We name you now, white one. You are death. Come to us, and you will meet your namesake.

The Tyrannodrones left.

Trent shook his head, snickering. Death. Seriously? Well, okay, that was kinda cool, but still.

He let the smile drain away and looked at the door. He had a job to do.

He walked in.

Mesegog turned his head. "Sssso. My ssson hasss...returned." He turned, flexing a claw. "Death...hassssbeen kind."

"Oh, I wasn't dead." Trent said pleasantly, taking out his blaster. "But you are."

And then pain erupted in his chest.

The blade had literally come from behind. Trent whirled, gasping, and saw the face of his mother, tears in her eyes as she stepped back, her face slowly becoming an icy mask.

For a minute he didn't understand.

Then he fell to his knees and it sank in, that his mother, the woman who had saved him when an experiment went wrong and sang to him when he was sick and let him buy pizza and trained him and the only teammate he had had just stabbed him and looked like ice or stone, and he couldn't tell if she cared or not. Trent yanked the dagger out. It hadn't hit an organ, and the Power was already healing it, but the pain was there.

And then there was new pain as Mesegog destroyed his mind.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Central Reefside_  
_Date: September 10, 2003_

_White._

The thought-and the pain-reverberated through the Gems. Tommy watched, understanding, and even pained himself, Trent had been a nice kid, but apart, separate.

He hadn't been there. They had.

Tommy killed another Tyrannodrone, cursing Mesegog softly. Goddamnit, when would the freak stop hurting his kids? Corrupting the White Secondary like this was just pointless emotional torture for them after losing one of their own. Kira seemed especially crushed, venting her pain by going into a state near that of a Viking beserker, trying to lose herself in rage. And the White Ranger, whoever he was...Tommy wanted to find Mesegog himself and wring the thing's neck for this.

Someone slipped.

Tommy _felt_ the battle change, but he couldn't get to his kids without letting the Tyrannodrones swarm them, so while the White Ranger sent hit after hit all he could do was keep going, cursing like a sailor.

Kira demorphed.

Tommy drew the Brachio Staff, using it as a _stalv_ and slamming it into the ground. A wall of fire roared to life, giving him a few precious seconds to defend his daughter, and he turned, racing over to what wasn't, please God wasn't a corpse.

It wasn't.

Tommy stopped. The boys had, too. The White Ranger held Kira by the wrist, his fist raised, but he seemed frozen. Tommy heard the unfamiliar mind along the Dino Gems' mindlink bond, heard a strange mix of confusion and longing and just...pain.

The White Ranger let go of Kira's wrist, lowering his fist, still staring.

There was a blur, and the White Ranger was on the ground, Conner pounding him like, well, an infuriated teenager, screaming something incomprehensible. The White Ranger, stunned, just lay there.

His morph shattered.

Conner froze and Trent threw him off, taking a swing without realizing his morph was gone. Conner blocked and struck back, throwing Trent into a building.

"_Trent_!" Kira screamed, running to him.

Ethan and Conner broke into runs, too, screaming Trent's name, Conner babbling apologies, no one paying any attention to the Dragozord loose or the Tyrannodrones, and Tommy was...stunned. Trent. Trent was _alive_. Alive and the White Ranger.

The other Rangers pretty much piled on top of him, crying for pain and joy.

And then Trent morphed and threw them all like rag dolls.

Tommy _moved_. He'd seen enough evil Rangers to know what was going to happen. Sure enough, Trent was halfway to Conner before Tommy grabbed Trent's arm, twisting it up behind him and kicking his legs out in the same move.

Trent headbutted Tommy as he went down, actually managing to free himself while Tommy was distracted by the helmet bashing into his, and after a complicated moment Tommy and Trent were fighting, Tommy trying desperately not to hurt the boy while finding a way to restrain him somehow.

"Trent!" He shouted. Trent's helmet wouldn't pick up on a comm channel. "Trent, listen to me! Whatever's going on, this isn't you. I want to help you, understand? Let me-"

Trent shot him in the face. Which didn't hurt, but knocked his head back and gave the boy an advantage, enough for him to slash down with the dagger he held and-

There was a scream across the Power as Trent drank energy from Tommy's morpher.

Tommy passed out.

When he woke up a few seconds later, the Dragozord was gone, as were the Tyrannodrones. Kira was laying on the ground crying, not even trying to move. The boys were shouting and punching things.

Trent was gone.


	9. Lithium Pt I

A\N: Well, my brain is apparently on drugs.

* * *

Gone.

Tommy stared at the battlefield for a moment, then scrambled to his feet.

The aftermath of battles was...devastating. Now it looked otherworldly. Buildings were crumbled around him; the sky seemed almost pure white from the clouds.

It felt like there was no one left on Earth besides him.

Something in that sentence made Tommy tense. He glanced down. ...No. No, that shouldn't be right, why couldn't he sense-

No.

Tommy turned.

Conner, suddenly quiet, stood alone, apart from Kira and Ethan, who had also fallen silent. Conner's fists clenched, the youth staring at the asphalt grayed by the sky. Blood ran down his shirt from a dark spot on his shoulder. He didn't seem to notice.

Tommy carefully walked closer. Conner was trembling.

Conner was fluent in two languages, thanks to his deaf parents, and functional in Russian and Spanish, thanks to their adventures and high school. Now he spoke exactly one word, the rest of the blunt, painful emotion screaming across the Gem-bond instead.

"_Trent_."

Tommy was the Leader of the Earth Ranger Corps. He loved these children, but he had spent his life in danger, fighting monsters that made Mesegog pale in comparison. And all of him, Leader and Green Ranger and Tommy Oliver, was screaming one thing:

End this. _Now_.

"Yes." Tommy said. Conner didn't reply. "Conner. Listen to me. You're blocking me out. Let me in."

The order went unheeded, or maybe not even understood to begin with. Behind Tommy came a scream and a crunch; Kira had punched a bit of rubble, and there was a faint twinge in Tommy's hand as Kira broke her own doing it.

Tommy stayed focused. Now, they were a pack animal, a single feral child, and Conner was the leader of the hivemind. "Conner. Turn around and look at me."

"_Trent_..." Kira's voice sounded like a terrifying song. Tallians had picked up the ability to songscream instead of cry from the Daemon, although they still had tears.

Ethan walked over to Conner.

They 'spoke'. Tommy couldn't hear the conversation. He didn't interject. Images were flashing through his mind now; of Kira, her face soulless and blood-spattered, as the corpses of the Tyrannodrone squadron she had killed bare-handed at fourteen littered the ground around her; of Ethan, curled up in a corner of a van, unresponsive and flinching whenever anyone touched him; of Conner, collapsed drunkenly in a gas-station bathroom, unopened pill bottles around him and a gun with one bullet missing on the floor, a mugger's blood splashed on his jacket.

This was a city full of civilians. His top priority was containment. They would work through this; they were having a flashback of some kind, they hardly had a choice. But he could at least keep them from killing anyone.

Or maybe anyone _else_. He'd never asked.

The boys turned and extended their hands.

Kira hesitated, then joined them, the three turning to walk away.

Tommy reached out.

They stopped.

Tommy sensed the warning. Base preservation instincts took over, and he froze.

The teenagers walked away.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Cyberspace_  
_Date: September 10, 2003_

"Haley's Cyberspace, what can I do for you today?"

_"It's me. Close up."_

"Tommy? What are you-"

_"Close up. Now. Stay indoors. I'll explain when it's over."_

"...I can't get everyone out quickly, I'll have to stay in lockdown."

_"...I'll get the rest of the city there too."_

"Tommy? What's wrong? You're scaring me...damnit, don't you dare hang up! Tommy? Tommy...damn it all."

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Mesegog's Island, Unknown Waters_  
_Date: September 10, 2003_

Trent knelt.

Mesegog glanced at the boy from his throne. Elsa stood behind him, her face like stone; Mesegog could hear the pain radiating from her mind.

It was..._delicious_.

He pushed the thought to one side. For now he reached out, touching the boy's mind.

It was _shattered_, a destroyed ruin that Mesegog felt a grin spread over his face as he explored. The memories he wanted, near the surface, were badly-formed and as ruined as the rest. Still, they told him what he wanted to know.

It was time.

Mesegog stood, and with a flick of the mind drew Trent to follow him. "The timme...isssnear." He told his...well, family, in a warped way.

He turned and tilted his head. "You...hhhave never realized, hhave you. The plan." He grinned. "Elssssa. You...didnot sussspect?"

The woman paused, she always did, trying to gauge every mood, fit her response to it. "My lord?"

Mesegog chuckled. The sound was more like a cough. "Zeltraxx. Tell me. Did you...guesss?"

"Er...no?" The cyborg asked, clueless as ever.

Mesegog laughed. Laughed like he almost never did. When the harsh, diseased sound faded away, he spoke again, returning to his throne in his odd, jerky gait.

"Did you really think that I was a_ fool_?" The hiss was like a whip crack across the throne room. "Ssssome...halfwit lackey likeLothor? No." Mesegog turned, surveying his generals. Silent Elsa, broken and ready to serve him; Zeltrax, warped and stupid; Trent, his newest toy, a doll with his soul shattered in pieces. "We...aregoing to return Earth to the age of the Dinosssaur...and rule the galaxy with the army that grantssssusss."

"The galaxy?" Elsa asked.

Mesegog sat on his throne, calling up a set of data files. "Inthe..early dayssss of hisss experimentssss, that fool Mercccer met with a certain..._Power Ranger_."

Elsa read the name. She didn't quite believe it.

"Yessss." Mesegog's grin was almost as warped and sick as it was. "The PinkRanger. Notssso...deadasss the Rangerssss believed." He gestured. "And thessse names are...Eltarian. Itsssseeemssss the rumorsss were...true. The Ranger Queen isss...atraitor."

Trent was waking up.

Mesegog paused, then glanced at...his son. Yes. Not Anton's son, not any more. He had stolen the boy, just as he had stolen Anton's lover, Anton's co-worker, and almost stolen Anton's friend. Pity Oliver had been a Power Ranger.

Anton, curled somewhere in Mesegog's mind, struggled. It was the first time in a long time, and Mesegog savored it before crushing it.

"Come, my ssssson. Ssssit by...yourfather." Mesegog mocked. Trent was half-crying, but obeyed, still unable to form more than half of a thought, let alone disobey. Mesegog ran a claw through the boy's hair, savoring the pain as the boy continued to draw his shattered self back together, realize what had happened. "Do you know the ssstory of Meset'goeg?"

There was no reply, only the boy curling up a little more. Mesegog smiled anyway. "It isss...an Eltarian bogieman. A monssster...of children'ssss talessss. Like Americansss and...Sssslenderman."

No reply.

"...The Hhheadlesss Horssseman." Recognition. Mesegog made a mental note to check the IQ of his lackeys. As things stood, he doubted it was above room temperature collectively. These were the days when he was tempted to turn to Anton for conversation, if only so someone could keep up with him.

_But I know the script already_, Anton whispered, half-bitter, half-calm.

Mesegog chuckled and turned back to reality. "Thisss iss the galaxy." He called up a political map. "Whhhite isss...the territory of theCouncil of Lighhht. Black...isssthe Dark Court. Orange isss...unclaimed."

They peered at the map, wondering where the orange was. Mesegog zoomed in to the Orion Arm. Then closer. Then closer.

One solar system was orange. Nothing else.

"The Treaty of Power...isss a creation of an old war." Mesegog explained. "It limitsss damage. Forcesss...cooperation. Createssss...a Ranger Corps. But it, like all thingssss...comesssto an end."

"Let me guess, when the last planet is claimed?" Elsa asked dryly.

"Yessss."

"But I thought we were turning the world back to the age of the Dinosaur!" Zeltrax protested.

_See, this is why I didn't hire Smitty,_ Anton snarked. Mesegog mentally bitch-slapped him, turning outward again. "Yesss. And whhen we do, Eltar will attempt to claim...usss. And the Dark Court will...ressspond."

"A war." Elsa realized. "You're going to start a war."

Mesegog grinned.

There was a flicker of thought across Trent's mind, a thought the boy squirreled away instantly. Mesegog caught it anyway. "The Rangersss?" He hissed, grinning as Trent winced. "Yesss...they are my obstacle. The one...sssstone in my path." He reached down and caught Trent's chin, pulling the boy's face up to meet his eyes. "And they...are already mine."

An alarm sounded. On the small screen an image of the Dino Rangers appeared.

Elsa gaped.

"I implanted a...sssstate into their mindss." This was almost as good as victory, the tang of realization and horror and hero-worship that the minds in the room filled Mesegog's mind with. "I knew you were faithlesss, Elssssa." The woman looked away. "Ssso I waited. Let you...hhhaveyour fun with your...plotssss. And, in time, you brought the trigger to me."

Mesegog's eyes narrowed. "There isss...one piece of the puzzle, remaining. We mussst defeat...theEarthRangerCorps."

"And the only thing to defeat a Power Ranger is another Ranger." Elsa said slowly, processing Mesegog's plan.

"Exactly." Mesegog studied the screen. "Myssson...your sssssiblingssss...misssyou." He glanced at Trent, still half-crying at Mesegog's feet. "Go to them. Bring them to me."

Trent hesitated.

Mesegog grasped the boy's skull, blasting into the boy's mind. Trent screamed, and Mesegog burst out laughing, delighting in the agony of the boy, the rage and fear that prompted his father to leap up, the ease with which Mesegog could destroy them both if he wanted.  
Mesegog implanted instructions in the boy's mind, then released him.

There was a pause as the instructions took, then Trent stood, bowing, and walked away. Mesegog turned back to the screen, grinning.

He could hear Elsa's mind whispering something faint, the final, broken whisper of a mother selling her child into slavery. Could hear Zeltrax's faint jealousy and hero-worship. Could hear Trent's broken despair, very faintly.

The world outside, happy and free, was nothing compared to this. And soon the world would _be_ this.

Soon.


	10. Lithium Pt II

A\N: Oh, it's not drugs, my brain is just batsh*t. Good to know.

A\N II: Whoops, Adam's call sign is _not_ Black Ranger II. It's Ninjetti Black. Sorry about that-reuploading to fix the error.

* * *

_Location: Redwood forests between Reefside and Fortuna, CA_

_Date: September 11, 2003_

_They were...a pack._

_Conner\Kira\Ethan were one being now, as they had been for hours, running, running wild through first Reefside and then into the woods. On any other day the redwood forests would have been their playground, but they had been in too much pain, too far gone, and had run until finally they had worn themselves out._

_Now it was morning._

_They woke slowly, one body at a time of the trio hivemind. The forests were like a fairy-tale palace, cloaked in mist and woven with endless beauty. Conner\Kira\Ethan stayed where they were, warm, safe, together._

_Vague memories began to stir. Memories of Black, of language, of beds and walls. The memories were senseless, fading away like mist with the emotions they evoked. Conner\Kira\Ethan shrugged and relaxed, content for now to simply be._

_There was a sound of sniffling._

_They sat up and began looking._

_The noise was a boy. Dark-skinned and dark-haired. They reached, instinctively, for his mind, the only way they could recognize people anymore-_

_They drew back, hissing. His mind was scarred, destroyed, ruined._

_The boy looked up. He said something, but they had no language. But they were curious now, Kira especially, drawing nearer, reaching out. The boy took the body's hands-Ethan's-and whispered something._

_They smiled._

_Conner\Kira\Ethan were hungry. They would go find food, and bring the boy with them. A new packmate._

_The boy's mind reached out, slowly, painfully. Conner\Kira\Ethan welcomed their new packmate, coming to curl around him, mentally and physically. Name? Conner asked, with what little language he remembered. Your name what?_

_...Trent, the boy whispered. Name Trent._

_They froze._

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Reefside Police Headquarters, Reefside_  
_Date: September 11, 2003_

Captain Vasquez saw the Black Ranger.

Well, Tommy Oliver. Presumably he was hanging around the police station in civilian form to avoid being recognized, but Vasquez had already figured out the identities of the Rangers anyway.

Vasqeuz sighed and headed over to the bench where Oliver was sitting. "Mind?"

Oliver shook his head. Vasquez sat.

There was silence, and then Vasquez glanced at the door to the war room. "Lots of characters in there." He murmured. "Don't know how many you recognized. The suits, I didn't know them, but I'd bet Homeland Security. General McKnight...well, he's already nearly caused international incidents three times with the Daemon down in Mariner Bay. And god knows we all appreciated that idiot from the civilian review board yapping about how long we can keep this place locked down..."

Oliver didn't move.

"Your kids took off, didn't they."

Vasquez wasn't expecting Oliver's head to whip around, eyes glowing green. To his credit, he didn't flinch. "Police get unfiltered information. I was the one who took our networks down and told the tech crews to call it static." He grinned. "You're welcome."

There was a pause, and Oliver sighed. Vasquez glanced at his coffee, then handed it to Oliver. He needed it more than Vasquez did.

"They're good kids." Oliver said quietly.

"I know." Vasquez reassured him. "Who was the white one?"

"Trent."

Vasquez nodded and made a mental note to add either child neglect or abuse to the list of Things He Wanted to Charge Anton Mercer With. (It was a long list. Mercer, in his human form, rubbed Vasquez the wrong way; as Mesegog, Vasquez considered it a sacred duty to prosecute the bastard to the full extent of the law.)

"The kids..." Oliver sighed. "If I give you Ranger intel, can you keep it out of the loop?"

"Sure." If only because Oliver clearly needed to talk.

Oliver gave Vasquez a long, searching look. Apparently, he liked what he saw. As did most people, to be honest; it was why Vasquez was the go-to man for tough confessions. "Mesegog captured them...years ago. Forget how many." Oliver chuckled. "Too early in the morning."

"Amen."

"He put a lot of stuff in their heads. Bad stuff. I think he's just a sadist, but some of it was actual programming." Oliver drank the coffee like another man would take a shot of alcohol, an air of desperation around him. "They thought Trent was dead. Haley didn't...she told me you wanted to look for some stray kid, couldn't remember his name. I didn't know..."

"You were friends?"

Oliver chuckled. "He tagged along on digs. I guess so." Oliver shook his head. "There were a lot of dead. I didn't think to look for a body. And the kids, they'd seen so much..."

"But he's back."

Oliver shut his eyes.

Vasquez reached out, rubbing the man's shoulder, every inch sympathetic, pieces of a puzzle slotting into place as his mind raced. "What happened to your kids?"

Oliver chuckled. "They saw Trent." He shook his head, opening his eyes, and Vasquez saw a dark, angry pain in them. It was the sort of pain that had been on Vasquez's face, once upon a time. The pain that Vasquez had become an officer to end. "They...what happened, it broke part of them. And when they saw Trent..."

Vasquez waited.

"They're feral." Oliver said finally. "That's the best way to explain it. Feral, but a hivemind, with all the training and ability of adult Rangers. They're not _bad_, but they've never gotten this far before. And even partway into this state, they..." Oliver glared at the ground. "I didn't ask if they killed. Sometimes, I knew, but..."

Vasquez nodded. "Killers."

Oliver sighed. "No. Only if they feel the need." He nodded at the war room door. "And we have three parties that would love nothing more than to give them a very bad situation right about now."

Vasquez hesitated, then stood. "Come on, then."

Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"Well," Vasquez said cheerfully, "Someone's gotta find your kids."

Oliver hesitated. Then, slowly, a grin broke out across his face.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Reefside, exact location unknown_  
_Date: September 11, 2003_

_They were one._

_Conner\Kira\Ethan\Trent, now, wandered Reefside. They found Conner's car and drove recklessly and laughed and stole food from an abandoned convenience store and found a park and played games and...and were four._

_Four. Not three. Four. It had been three years since they had been a whole pack._

_They were a pack again._

_Somewhere in the afternoon, though, they saw someone in black following them. Dangerous, their minds whispered. They could sense the power shooting from him, the Gem-Power._

_They couldn't recognize him._

_They jumped into Conner's car and drove, running away with the intent of being unfindable. They were, and after a minute the man was gone, but now they remembered their mission._

_They were going to kill the one who had hurt their packmate._

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Reefside_  
_Date: September 11, 2003_

"Shit."

Vasquez caught up with Oliver. And he had to say, that morph was slightly weird-looking up close. "You lost them?"

Oliver didn't reply. Vasqeuz could imagine the expression. "Relax. While you were busy trying to get their attention, I slapped a GPS on their car."

Oliver's head turned. Vasquez _really_ wanted to see _this_ expression. "Come on, Oliver." Vasquez said, slapping him playfully on the back. "Let's go see what those kids are up to." He frowned. "By the way, wouldn't a better option be doughnuts?"

"...I really, really should re-examine my life right about now."

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Reefside_  
_Date: September 11, 2003_

_There was a gun store. This time they didn't leave money behind to pay for what they took. None of them could afford a gun._

_But they couldn't morph. They would risk losing the mindmeld. And that just..._

_They hesitated._

_Looking at each other, they remembered something. Something simple._ They were one. _That was written in stone, an unmutable law._

_They had been apart so long..._

_No. No, never, not ever again, no more leaving! They were one and they would always be one, fingers and arms linking, souls as one being. And one of them had been hurt\it was their duty to fight, so they would kill Mesegog\Anton, but they would never leave this place again._

_They were one. Now, and forever. They were one._

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Reefside Police Headquarters, Reefside_  
_Date: September 11, 2003_

Tommy really detested meetings. This was no exception.

General McKnight was all but screaming after his briefing, shouting about 'those damn demons' and how this was all...well, hell if Tommy knew, some kind of plot to take over America or something. If Tommy had to hear one more reference to Commies, he was going to ask out loud when McKnight retired. The Homeland Security folks, as well as the CIA and FBI, were vying for jurisdiction, which had no basis in law. The civilian review board's representative was demanding evidence that there was even need for this shutdown, which Tommy could sympathize with, except giving evidence would involve murder charges for at least one of his children.

And Tommy, morphed, waited, while the GPS signal from his kids headed straight for a secret AMI laboratory.

Anton Mercer Industries was a megacorporation, one that used its name roughly never. It had been passed from father to son for generations, changing the name each time, making it insanely difficult to trace. It worked through subsidiary companies, which was what made it so effective-the head management could direct anything from creating a banana republic to funding a local museum, and yet it could never be linked officially back to anyone.

It had a dark side. Weapons development, mostly, but under Anton, it had gone into biowarfare research. It was easiest to sell as 'but we can create something good from this highly illegal research!' if they got caught, and Anton just liked playing with viruses.

As far as Tommy knew, all of the kids had been lab rats for bioweapons. Once they had bonded to the Dino Gems, Mesegog had no use for them, but Anton...well, a test subject that was nearly indestructible? It must have been impossible for Anton to resist.

Tommy wondered, some days, what had happened to the strange, quiet man who had spent hours geeking out over _Jurassic Park_ with him and mentored him through half of college. And how Tommy could have gotten him so wrong.

"...Some idiot civilian dictate _military_ policy!" McKnight bellowed.

Vasquez jumped up, putting himself between the civilian representative and McKnight, who was half out of his chair, and Tommy sighed.

The kids were getting closer to the base, and all he could do was watch.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: AMI Research And Development Center, Reefside Foothills_  
_Date: September 11, 2003_

The lobby was completely deserted.

The four teenagers walked in looking like nightmares, holding guns and with stony faces. They moved as one being, not jerkily or oddly but fluidly, and there was an air about them, as if they had just walked off the battlefield.

They were walking monsters, looking for prey. The telepath listening felt their faint twinge of disappointment that there was no prey in the lobby.

Well, far be it from him to disappoint. Mesegog, shapeshifted into Anton Mercer, stepped out from his hiding place. Any observer would have thought he was insane-a lone man stepping into the dimly-lit lobby while the wind from the rain-threatening clouds outside whirled to announce the arrival of four monsters. Any human would have run away, spurred on by the dramatic scene.

Mesegog loved it.

"Hey, you're all right!" Mesegog said with Anton's mouth. "I was worried about you." He tilted his head. "Did you guys miss me?"

And then he shapeshifted.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Reefside Police Headquarters, Reefside_  
_Date: September 11, 2003_

_"Ninjetti Black."_

_"Adam, it's me. Code red."_

_"Details?"_

_"I'll brief you on the way here. Just get here."_

_"Yessir. Black out."_


	11. Lithium Pt III

A\N: So, my bunnies hate me. This was originally supposed to be the last episode of the Lithium arc, but it's too big, so pt. IV will come out later. Oh, and remember all that foreshadowing about Anton not being Mesegog? _Anton is still a (censored)_. I really do not know why. aslkkddkf I hate you bunnies.

* * *

_Location: AMI Research and Development, Reefside_

_Date: September 12, 2003_

They were too late.

Tommy walked into the ruined building. Most of it had collapsed. If there had been people in here..._No, don't think that, Tommy, if there had been people they'd have looked, done something, they're not like that. Even hiveminding they're not that reckless._

_"Your_ kids_ did this?"_ Rocky sounded seriously impressed. _"Damn, man."_

"Maintain radio silence." It was more professional than snapping 'shut up, Rocky'. The other Ninjetti heard the meaning in it and shut up anyway.

Adam moved a bit closer. The Black Power whispered between them, Ranger to Ranger, an emotional hand on the shoulder.

Tommy shut his eyes.

He opened them again a second later. Grief was for later; for now he had to find them. He glanced around the lobby. The devastation was insane, but...there. He walked over to a tossed-aside chair.

There were three claw marks nearly shredding it. Mesegog.

"All right, Ninjetti, listen up." Billy, Kat, and Kim were missing and Tommy was morphed as Dino Black, but the remaining Ninjetti looked at their leader attentively. "The kids are somewhere in here, probably injured. Mesegog's somewhere in here too. We're going to spread out and search. The second any of you see anything, and I mean _anything_, shout it out, and the rest of us will come give you backup. Do _not_ engage."

They nodded.

_"Bro, um...don't you think you're freaking out a bit here?"_ Rocky asked cautiously. _"I mean, yeah, they're crazy, obviously, but from what you've told us..."_ He shrugged. _"Well, seems like they'd do fine if you just demorphed and let them figure out you aren't going to eat them for lunch."_

Tommy blinked.

"...Rocky? They've killed before. And they weren't even fully into this state." Tommy shook his head. "Look, I know you guys don't know them, but-"

_"But we do know what traumatized kids are capable of._" Adam pointed out. _"Especially Rocky. We work with pediatric psychology, remember?"_

Tommy hesitated. Some part of his brain, the part that wasn't emotionally scarred from years of the abuse Anton had put him through, registered what Adam and Rocky were saying.

The rest of him, entirely incapable of thinking that this wasn't the end of the world, just rolled his eyes. "And I appreciate that. But right now these kids have adult powers, adult bodies, the ability to morph, and are wholeheartedly convinced that anything moving should be killed. Not 'taken out', not 'neutralized', killed." Tommy met each of their eyes. "Do not engage. That is an order. Am I clear?"

Various grumbled 'yessir's came from the comms. Tommy sighed, but he wasn't going to spend time reassuring them, not when his instincts were still screaming that this was a life-or-death emergency. "All right. Ninjetti, move out."

*PR*PR*PR*

_Twenty minutes later..._

_"Fearless, I found something."_

Tommy froze, his eyes sweeping around to check that he was secure as he responded to Adam. "Right, on my way. Ninjetti, to Black, now."

They all moved like lightning, reaching Adam in less than a minute. Thank God for ninja streaking, Tommy thought dryly.

Adam was standing next to a door. _"I'm picking up heat signatures on the other side._" He explained.

Tommy did the same scan. Multiple heat signatures. Separated, not together. "Not the kids. Civilians, it looks like."

_"How can you tell?"_ Rocky asked.

Tommy snorted. "Right now I doubt they're half a foot apart from each other, these guys are a good ten or twenty feet apart." He pulled out his blaster, aiming at the door. "Let's go. We need to evacuate them before we continue."

He blasted the door open and walked in.

Then he remembered exactly why he hated AMI's R&D department.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Mercer Household, Reefside_  
_Date: September 13, 2003_

The only mistake Mesegog had ever made was letting Anton Mercer live.

Most of the time they functioned as a warped version of brothers. Mesegog thought Anton was weak, and built a place in their shared mind for Anton to sleep, while he made the world safe for Anton; Anton, well aware of the inherent filth of the world, avoided it and let Mesegog rebuild a world that he could survive in.

But Mesegog had tried to hurt Anton's son.

Now, two days later, Anton finished up a conference call with an insincere smile, firing off a few emails and glancing at the time. They would be awake by now, it was almost ten in the morning. They'd been up late, though, talking and trying to break out.

Anton sighed. Teenagers.

He shut off his computer and headed upstairs. Outside of Trent's door he hesitated, checking; yes, Mesegog was still asleep, curled up in the back of Anton's mind. Anton was free now. Free, and safe.

He pulled the key out of its hiding place, carefully altering his memories of the hiding place to self-destruct when Mesegog awoke, and unlocked the door.

Trent looked like a wild thing, sitting in the room of a teenage boy. He was sitting on the bed, telepathically talking to his siblings. Anton smiled, slowly shutting the door.

He didn't shut it quietly enough. Trent's head snapped up.

Anton stilled, sending out signals of calmness, nonthreatening peace. Trent hesitated, but then relaxed visibly, accepting Anton's presence. Anton smiled and walked slowly over to him, sitting down and reaching out. Trent curled into his father's side, too lost in his mindmeld for the pride of a teenage boy.

Anton shut his eyes. Finally. Finally, he was home.

Trent 'spoke' first. _Daddy? Others where?_ He was already picking up Conner's signspeak. So close, those children.

_With Tommy\Black_, Anton sent back, using thoughts as simplified as his son's.

_No. No they aren't. Stop lying._

Anton sighed and sent an impression of truthfulness, of how difficult it was for any of them to think clearly. Trent hesitated, but fundamentally trusted his father. He relaxed again, content.

No, Anton thought, 'trust' was the wrong word. Trent was traumatized. He didn't_ trust_ his father. He _believed_ in his father, emotionally depended on Anton, because the alternative was to remember what Mesegog had done to him using Anton's face.

To remember what had been done, and try to understand why. And when you were fifteen, 'why' was about you. What you'd done. Especially if someone had told you that at the time.

Even at seventeen now, Trent couldn't erase that scar.

Anton sighed. It didn't matter. He had work to do now.

He gently nudged at Trent's mind, asking permission. Trent reached for his father's mind in return, unconditionally, unthinkingly, as faithful as a baby. Anton let their minds meld, carefully reaching for his son's thoughts.

This was difficult, skilled work. Anton had spent a lifetime developing his psychic powers, but no amount of training removed the inherent emotions involved. That was magic; psi was the basis for magic, the most fundamental access to magic every sorcerer developed in infancy, but magic used symbols and outside help to work with it.

A psychic stripped away symbols, potions, words. They worked with the most primal energies. And there was emotion involved, but even if Anton had studied magic, it wouldn't work for this.

This was too raw.

As Anton worked, Trent noticed Mesegog sleeping in Anton's mind. To Anton's surprise, he didn't ask who it was, he seemed to already know. (A minor victory, the boy barely recognized anyone.) Instead he asked, _Not daddy? Different?_

Anton considered that answer. _...Yes. (an image of two beings, separate, in one body) Not daddy. Daddy here. Awake. Mesegog there. Asleep._

That had been too wordy for Trent. It wasn't that he'd lost IQ points, he was still the same near-genius Anton knew, it was just that he'd lost most of his linguistic skill. Anton used Jungian archetypes this time, two circles for spirits, one white and one black, first emphasizing different, then putting them in one body.

Trent understood that.

The shock and emotion dislodged what Anton was doing, exploded so brightly Anton mentally jumped back, biting back curses. Trent glomped Anton, all but trying to burrow into his father's shoulder. _Not you. Thought it was you but not you not you not you..._

_...You thought me? Me hurt you?_

_(an impression of his face and cold energies and pulling away)_

Oh god.

Anton felt sick. Oh, god. Trent had thought he had..._No. No, not me,_ never_ me. Love you. Love you always._

Trent's thoughts were pure relief and that strange, loyal 'love'.

Anton retreated from Trent's mind, re-establishing the connection at a less deep level. He wasn't going to get any more work done for hours. He might as well-

There was a crash.

Trent looked up, and Anton sighed, sending an image of an animal crashing around downstairs. Trent laughed, and Anton kissed the top of his head, sending an impression of him going to check.

Trent was sad, but nodded and let Anton go.

Anton locked the door behind him and hid the key, then went downstairs, now fully irritated. Sure enough, Conner, Kira, and Ethan were standing in his living room, having broken out.

Anton reached for their minds.

He wasn't Mesegog. He didn't break them, just dulled their thoughts and left them feeling sleepy and warm. He suggested to them they go back to their room. Well, not _their_ room. From what he'd found in their hivemind, they all preferred the idea of taking Trent and going to live in Conner's car for the rest of their lives.

But Anton wouldn't allow that.

He sent the Ranger-children to sleep and started repairing the door, sighing. "You three are going to be more annoying than anyone I've ever met." He informed them, talking to the sleeping teenagers while he worked.

Looking at them, he felt a pang of guilt.

"...I'd help you." He said quietly. "I would. I really would. But I can't. You understand, right? I can help Trent, he's psychic even if he won't admit it, he hasn't been mindlinked like you three have...I don't have a choice. I have to leave you like this. I'd kill you if I tried to separate you."

They slept on. They were all half-draped over each other, close even in sleep. Their shared dreams were a guarded place that Anton, who normally could hear almost every thought in a room, couldn't even begin to sense, and didn't want to.

"I'm sorry."

They slept on.

Anton hesitated, then finished fixing the door. When it was done, he glanced around the room. They had books, some of that horrible junk food they liked, coloring books and crayons. Some of the pictures were even colored, Anton noticed with a dry smile.

He shut the door and locked it.

His son needed him.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Reefside General Hospital, Reefside_  
_Date: September 13, 2003_

The lockdown was over.

Tommy hadn't wanted that, but it was clear the teenagers had been taken. They weren't a threat anymore. Standing down was the only option with the mess that waited if they gave the CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, or anyone else time to process. The Ninjetti were still in Reefside. No one really wanted to go home.

Tommy saw them standing around the lobby. He'd offered his couch, but they'd opted for staying at the hospital instead. They'd planned on morphing in turns so there would always be a Ranger around, but Vasquez (Tommy was going to frickin' _marry_ Vasquez he loved the man so much) had taken over that part.

The Ninjetti looked...sleepless. Tommy knew the feeling.

He dug out his wallet and handed them a card. "There's a McDonald's near here somewhere. Get me one of those breakfast sausage things, would you?" Rocky took the card and nodded, too tired to say anything.

Tommy headed up to the quarantine rooms.

There were families there, parents, children, siblings, cousins. Vasquez had been reassuring everyone and providing updates when Tommy had left; now, like the families, he sat quietly in a corner.

The door to the quarantine ward was piled high on either side with flowers, cards, pictures, teddy bears and toys for the little one they'd found. Tommy had brought a wildflower he'd found growing near his house; he knelt and set it down before going to talk to Vasquez.

"You look like shit." Vasquez said, not even opening his eyes.

Tommy eased down next to him. "They aren't hurt. Mesegog took Trent away from them, so they're pissed, but they aren't hurt. Didn't let me sleep a wink, though." He glanced at the door. "How are they?"

Vasquez looked at the door. Tommy saw the expression.

They'd found five civilians. Three adults; one teenager; one eight-year-old girl. The children were siblings, but they were the only pair that knew each other.

All of them were infected with unknown bioweapons.

Reefside's CDC had quarantined them instantly, and word had come from somewhere that the top priority of the hospital was saving these patients. But when Tommy had gone home...the images of finding them, nearly unable to move from near-starvation, coughing up blood or dry heaving, the littlest one not even crying, haunted his mind.

"The doctors won't say." Vasquez replied. "You know, we thought most of them were kidnap victims? California had an Amber Alert out for the two kids." Vasquez shut his eyes. "Their family might not even make it in time. I hate my job."

Tommy understood.

There was nothing to do but wait, so they waited together, half-asleep, waited alongside these families, families suddenly learning that loved ones weren't dead...that instead, they were dying in a hospital that some of them had never heard of.

After a while, one of the doctors came out and walked over to Vasquez. "Officer, you can contact the Power Rangers, right?"

Vasquez glanced up. "Yeah, why?"

The doctor sighed. He looked as wonderful as Tommy and Vasquez did now, Tommy idly noted. "The little girl. Whatever she's got, it's progressing too rapidly." The doctor hesitated. "I know her family can't get here, and we've had her on the phone with them for hours, but if someone could come..." He paused again. "I know the Power Rangers found her. It would..." He shook his head. "I know it's a lot. But if they could come."

Vasquez looked at Tommy. "Hey, Oliver, can you run out to the car and make the call for me? I've got a number on my phone..."

"Sure." Tommy said, jumping up. He went out, wove through a few hallways, and ducked into a janitor's closet. "Hey, guys." He said into his morpher. "Wanted to talk to you."

_"Sup?"_ Rocky asked.

Tommy explained. They all agreed.

Fifteen minutes later, the doctors were babbling about how nice it was and letting them into the little girl's room. Tommy saw a glimpse of another family being taken into their loved one's room. How many were going to die today?

Aisha instantly walked over to the girl. "Hey, kiddo! How're you doing?"

The girl lit up. "Yellow Ranger!" Tommy forgot how loudly eight-year-old girls squealed. "Oh my god I have an action figure of you and I totally love you and you're the _best ever_! And all you other guys!" She started coughing, blood specking the sheets.

_"Careful, 'Sha."_ Adam warned over the team comm. The 'cloth' over his face canceled out the noise._ "The blood won't get you sick if you're morphed, but you don't have your helmet on."_

Aisha made a face, barely visible under the facemask. The Ninja morphs differed from the others, in that the 'helmet' was a force field containing all the things a normal morph contained, making it virtually a self-contained, one-man spacesuit that was indestructible. The helmet didn't have to be on, and didn't always activate. Aisha activated hers, a faint blue tinge surrounding her head, and smiled at the little girl, rubbing her back gently and talking to her animatedly about puppies.

Tommy felt tears sting his eyes.

An hour later, the girl died. The Rangers stood silently around her, Aisha holding one hand, the big sister, who the doctors had wheeled in, holding the other.

They stayed there, silent, for another moment. Then Adam turned to the big sister. "I'm sorry for your loss." He said quietly.

The girl didn't reply.

"Hey, Trisha, you awake?" One of the doctors asked, reaching out to shake a hazmat-suit-covered shoulder. The girl's head lolled.

She had died with her sister.

*PR*PR*PR*

_The outbreak started at the hospital._

_Later, people would point to the decision of the doctors to allow families, who didn't know and were likely to ignore proper quarantine protocols, into the rooms of the dying. They would say it was the CDC's fault for not checking to be sure the ones who had visited were properly quarantined in turn. They would say it was a planned outbreak, that Mesegog had intended for those five to be found, to spread an unstoppable disease._

_They would be wrong. It was unpreventable, and a horrible accident._

_But by the end of the day, the city would be in lockdown a second time, and this time the full force of the Earth Ranger Corps would be swooping in on Reefside in a mad-dash attempt to stop the outbreak before it killed everyone in the city._

_And no one knew if they would succeed._


	12. Lithium Pt IV

A\N: This turned out surprisingly cheerful. Also: This actually has some correlation to rare types of IRL flashbacks-so basically I just gave an entire team of Power Rangers PTSD. I am impressed with myself. :p

* * *

_Location: Reefside Police Department Headquarters, Reefside_

_Date: September 14, 2003_

Tommy studied the map.

Things were going FUBAR. Normally, Tommy would have been in his element, but he'd just had too many emotional blows. Even with all the Rangers under his command...

Dana had quietly suggested he go rest. He'd quietly told her he was the Leader of the Earth Ranger Corps, and he was not going to rest until the job was complete. But it wasn't healthy for him, and every minute he could feel his children slipping away.

"Bad news." General McKnight grunted. "No National Guard."

Damn. Tommy breathed out, then glanced at McKnight. "They say why?"

"Apparently, the bastards are still technically alive, thus American citizens." General McKnight shook his head. "So we're trusting the safety of our citizens to demons. I hate my job."

Normally, Tommy would have protested the racial slur, especially since the Princess-Heir of the Dark Court had come down to Earth to handle this herself. But Karone wasn't here and Tommy was exhausted. "Thanks. Go take five. You're exhausted."

General McKnight chuckled. "Son, you're the pot calling the kettle black there."

Tommy smiled weakly beneath his helmet. "Well, I'm a Ranger, I get to."

General McKnight chuckled again. "You're all right, son. You're all right." He headed out, leaving Tommy to stare at the map.

Thank any Divinity listening for the Daemon. They were weird as hell, Tommy would freely admit that, but the ones on Earth weren't just willing to step in and help, they considered it a sacred duty since the virus in question was modified from a Daemon virus.

But everyone was running into the same problem. The infected were walking around. Shambling, maybe, but walking and moaning, and by that definition, they were still alive.

And word had come down from some blithering moron that if a Daemon killed a human, it would be considered a declaration of war.

So they lost life after life and tried to contain the infected and every minute there was a new report of some poor soul collapsing in the areas on lockdown. There had nearly been a riot in the lockdown center under City Hall. And the most Tommy could do was pray.

Karone entered the war room, a haze of violet and pink magics, her little brother Justin in a light blue whisper of the Power. Tommy muttered some sort of greeting in lieu of collapsing in exhaustion.

Karone replied with a string of swearwords.

Tommy chuckled. "Happy fun time with the government?"

"I should have attacked DC." Karone grumbled. "Attacked and _destroyed_. Salted the fucking _Earth_."

Tommy shook his head in amusement.

"We need a team." Justin had been part of the Turbo team, the team the United Alliance of Evil had created to destroy the Earth Rangers, until someone had discovered that he was the biological son of Dark Spectre. Now, as the Prince of the Dark Court, he was clever, calm, and easily every bit as powerful as Tommy. "Someone who can go kill these things. Someone the government can't touch."

"Wraiths." Tommy agreed. It was a slang term he'd picked up from High Command of the Galactic Ranger Corps; a wraith was someone unconnected, who could move freely and held no citizenship. A wraith team was everyone's dream.

They fell silent.

"Go sleep, Black." Karone said quietly. "You're exhausted. I'll keep an eye on things here."

"You sure?" Tommy asked.

Karone nodded.

Tommy should have protested, but he was too tired. Instead he nodded and headed off.

Sleep sounded good right about now.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Mercer Household, Reefside_  
_Date: September 14, 2003_

_There was something wrong._

_They felt it in their blood. The Arthurian Stones, long ago, had been tied to the fate of the world; it was meant as both a crown and sword. They knew something was...bad._

_And they knew other things._

_Anton hadn't come to talk to Trent in two days. The others had broken out and found their teammate, and nothing had happened. Now, the pack all together, their collective thoughts ran along one line:_

_Something was wrong._

_They considered what it might be. They had no idea. But at the same time they had some; the Earth spoke to them through the Gems. Disease, it whispered, illness, corruption, badbadbad._

_Need Arthur. Need Merlin. Need Guinevere. Need Mordred. Need Lancelot._

_Anton would know, Trent\Mordred suggested, so they crept down to listen to Anton speakyell at his jars of colors and dishes of goo._

_And they heard a lot of stuff that didn't make sense. But they were teenagers. So it was a natural leap to go from 'T-Virus' to 'zombies', even if the coding system should have made no sense at all._

_And thus it was even more natural to think, hey, let's go stop them._

_It was insane. But no one had ever accused the Dino Rangers of sanity to begin with._

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Reefside Police Department Headquarters, Reefside_  
_Date: September 14, 2003_

The nice thing about being the Leader of the Earth Ranger Corps was that no one really minded if you took a break from the politics by going out and fighting. Tommy would have gone stir-crazy in a traditional military.

As it stood, there wasn't much fighting to do, though. King Hakim, the leader of the Earth Daemon (Queen Bansheera and Olympus had apparently been dethroned after the mess with Lightspeed; the Daemon people were not thrilled about picking fights with their next-door neighbors), waved cheerfully to Tommy as he approached the corral.

"Nice." Tommy said, nodding at the force field. It enclosed the northern edge of the city, where the hospital was. Thankfully it had been evacuated, but there would probably be a few insurance companies crying themselves to sleep at night when this was over. "It's going well?"

Hakim looked dark. "It's...going."

Tommy nodded.

There was a noise like a thud. Tommy frowned, but he couldn't see anything. A holocom on Hakim's wrist flashed. Tommy thought Hakim swore, but his Daemon was a bit rusty-

There was a flash from inside the force field.

Then another one.

Everyone nearby started staring.

The Dino Rangers appeared in a flash of light, then vanished as quickly. Tommy's heart almost stopped. Then there was a blur of Red as a wave of zombies fell; a flash of golden light as Kira's scream killed more; images, in the flash, of Blue and White fighting methodically and with terrifying efficiency.

Tommy stared.

_"Leader, you're not going to believe this."_ Karone deadpanned over the comlink.

"No. I see it." Tommy replied quietly. "I'm just not sure I believe it."

_"Well, believe it."_ Karone's grim triumph was evident over the comlink. No. No, why was everyone happy, this was a bad thing-_"One second, and we'll have our wraith team."_

"No!" Tommy burst out. "Pink Galaxy! Hold. Let me talk to them."

_"...Why?"_ Karone asked. _"Leader, they're doing our job for us."_

"No, they're batshit, and-" Tommy paused.

"...They won." Vasquez, who had come up behind Tommy, deadpanned. "Damn. I am gonna throw those kids the world's biggest party."

_"Not quite."_ Karone warned, her voice tense. _"Hakim. Drop the shields."_

"Cousin, why-" Hakim started.

An invisiportal opened, dropping Mesegog, Zeltrax, and Elsa into the battlefield. Against four psychotic mind-melded Rangers. This was like Tommy's worst nightmares come to life.

_"Your Majesty, this is Blue Ranger I. The other teams and I would appreciate it if you would drop the force fields."_ Billy's voice was colder than anyone had ever heard it. "Very _mu-"_

And then time froze.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Location: Containment Zone, Reefside_  
_Date: September 14, 2003_

_Conner\Kira\Ethan turned._

_Trent was there. They could feel him. But it was as if part of his mind was...gone, doing something else, was almost a different person. Conner\Kira\Ethan hissed, confused and frightened._

_Mesegog said something gleeful about 'instructions'._

_Conner\Kira\Ethan felt...stunned. Trent looked helplessly at them. He hadn't even known the instructions were there..._

_Trent fell to his knees._

_Trent was psychic. He had never done anything with his abilities, but he was young and strong and freezing everyone within a mile radius was most certainly possible. But it was hurting him. The rest of the hivemind swarmed around him._

_Mesegog laughed._

_"You caaan't...wiiiin." The hivemind ignored him, trying to bash their way through, tease out threads of thought, do anything to save their brother. "You are...asss good asss dead."_

_"No, they aren't."_

_...They knew this man. He wore the same costume as the man who had been chasing him, but he wasn't the same. That man had been a stranger and a predator. This one was..._

_He was a memory from a time of cages and needles, a face standing in a door, horrified. He was a memory of a van they had lived in and rest stops in the middle of nowhere and late-night fast food and laughter._

_They'd been living in the memory of Trent's death. Of the final time he had been dragged away, of the daysweeksmonthsyears waiting for him to return. But now they remembered what had happened next._

_They remembered Tommy._

_And Tommy, who had unwittingly been living a memory of his own, a memory of uncontrolled killing and the color green, the only reference he had for a child killer, remembered that they simply weren't him._

Their minds parted.

Tommy muttered a phrase, using magic to undo the knots in Trent's mind. Trent blinked and took the hand Conner offered, getting up.

There was a second of silence.

"You're not dead." Conner said.

"Um. No." Trent said awkwardly. "You're not dead?"

"No."

"...Okay, then."

_"Can you guys move out of the way so we can kill now?"_ Karone asked. The Dino Rangers turned. The entire Earth Ranger Corps (or at least it looked like it; there were a few stragglers dealing with other issues) had turned up.

"...Can we help?" Conner asked cheerfully.

Karone snickered. _"You're definitely Tommy's kids. Sure thing."_ She stepped up to them, leading the Ranger Corps that was now circling around Mesegog and his cohorts, patting Conner on the shoulder. _"Just try and leave some for the rest of us."_

"Okay!"

Tommy groaned. "Don't _encourage_ them..."

Karone just chuckled.

*PR*PR*PR*

_Unfortunately, after only a few minutes of what was usually considered 'the most epic beatdown in history' (and was even titled as such in the Youtube video Vasquez uploaded while laughing hysterically), Mesegog and his generals managed to escape. The Earth Ranger Corps, now with their wraith team safe and sound, stuck around for a few hours to help with the cleanup and left._

_The Power Rangers seemed to have disappeared again._

_Seemed._


End file.
